JERUSALEM, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, a state-owned Israeli technology company, announced on Wednesday that it had signed an agreement to sell electro-optic Spike anti-tank missiles of the new LR2 model to the Australian army.
Rafael did not disclose the exact amount of the deal, but it is estimated at tens of millions of U.S. dollars.
The precision-guided Spike missiles, which are widely used by the Israel Defense Forces and many other armies around the world, can be launched from a variety of ground, air, sea and naval platforms for ranges of up to 30 km.
To date, Rafael has sold over 30,000 Spike missiles to 30 countries. Australia is the second country after Israel itself to purchase Rafael's new model.
The new LR2 Spike has a range of up to 5.5 km by ground launch, up about 35 percent from the previous version. The range can extend to 10 km from a combat helicopter by using a wireless communication channel.
The sale of the missiles is part of an industrial partnership agreement signed between Rafael and Australia's engineering and manufacturing company Varley to establish joint production lines to supply Spike and other systems to the Australian army.
Rafael will also supply the Australian army with the Wind Coat system for protecting tanks and armored personnel carriers, and the Iron Dome system that intercepts and destroys short-range rockets.
