| Type | Government-owned corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Defense, Aerospace |
| Predecessor | Science Corps |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Headquarters | Haifa, Israel |
| Products | Military aerospace Missiles Ordnance Defense electronics Naval Systems |
| Revenue | $1.851 billion USD (FY 2010) |
| Net income | $170 million USD (FY 2010) |
| Employees | 6,000 |
| Divisions | Missiles and NCW Division Ordnance and Protection Division Manor - Advanced Defense Technologies Division |
| Subsidiaries | RDC (RAFAEL Development Corporation) |
| Website | rafael.co.il |
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. (Hebrew: רפאל - מערכות לחימה מתקדמות בע"מ, formerly: RAFAEL Armament Development Authority), known as RAFAEL or Rafael, (also spelled as Raphael or Rephael; Hebrew acronym of "Authority for the Development of Armaments" - רשות לפיתוח אמצעי לחימה) is an Israeli defense technology company. It was founded as Israel’s National R&D Defense Laboratory for the development of weapons and military technology within the Ministry of Defense; in 2002 its was incorporated as a limited company.[1]
Rafael develops and produces fighting-technologies for the Israel Defense Forces as well for exporting abroad. All current projects are classified.
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Rafael was established in 1948 as the Science Corps (Hebrew: חיל המדע, known by the acronym HEMED, Hebrew: חמד) under the leadership of Shlomo Gur, and was renamed to the Research and Design Directorate (Hebrew: אגף הפיתוח והתיכנון) in 1952. In 1952 David Ben-Gurion decided to split into two the activities of HEMED; the entity HEMED was on charge on the pure scientific research, and the new baptized entity EMET dedicate itself to the development of weapons [2].
In 1954 Ben-Gurion decided to change the name of the entity EMET for RAFAEL.[3] It was finally reorganized as Rafael in 1958.[4]
In 1995, Yitzhak Rabin asked Amos Horev to become Chairman of the Board of Rafael, following many years in which Horev had served as chairman of Rafael's advisory committee.[5] Horev served as Chairman until January 2001.[5]
During the early 1990 Rafael was operating at a loss (picking in 1995, with a loss of $120 million on a turnover of $460 million), therefore it was decided to restructure the organization and start operating Rafael as a company. Initially creating three discrete divisions; each operating as a profit centre, with a separate balance sheet presented to the newly formed management board.[6]
The restructuring was completed in 2002 when Rafael was formally incorporated as a limited company (although still as a government-owned corporation), while maintaining its technological capabilities through extensive investment in R&D programs (of about 10% of turnover). In its first year as a limited company, Rafael earned a $37 million profit on $830 million in sales.[7]
On October 14, 2007 the company changed its name from Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd. to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.
In 1993, Rafael Development Corporation (RDC), a technology transfer company, was established as a joint venture with Elron Electronic Industries; in order to commercialize applications based on defense technologies for medical devices, telecommunications, and semiconductor industries.[14] The company has successfully established and developed several companies including:
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