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On the Record
Moshe Keret, President and CEO, Israel Aircraft Industries
Since the late 1980s, when Israel decided to pull back from ambitious developments of indigenous military aircraft, Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) has grown to become a multi-billion dollar aerospace industry.
The government-owned company has maintained an impressive growth despite challenges faced in the domestic market, the commercial aviation sector and in specific regional markets.
According to Moshe Keret, President and CEO of IAI, 2005 speaking to Show News just before Paris, this year already looks better than 2004, a harbinger of recovery from several years of decline in the military and commercial aviation market.
This year, IAI is back in the market with a new aircraft designed and produced in Israel. The Gulfstream G150 midsize business jet, designed to replace the G100 (formerly IAI/Astra SPX) in the Gulfstream aircraft range), is expected to be certified at the end of this year and begin series production at IAI’s facility at Ben Gurion alongside super-midsize G200 (formerly IAI/Galaxy). Initial deliveries of the new bizjet are expected in 2006 to launch customer NetJets.
"With 35 years of experience in the business aviation market we are experienced to identify and anticipate future requirements, said Moshe Keret, IAI’s president and CEO. “This aircraft was designed to meet the growing demand from the corporate and business community."
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"In 2004 we received new orders worth $3 billion which significantly increased our backlog,” he says. “2005 already looks good. In Q1 we received new orders worth over $1 billion, and since then this amount has continued to grow, in both our defense and commercial activities. We expect this pace to sustain, and our total 2005 annual orders to reach at least $3 billion, same as 2004".
"This recovery is felt throughout all ranges of our activities" says Keret, "We feel it in MRO, business aviation and in the commercial market, as well as in improved stability and transparency of defense expenditure, which enable us to better predict and prepare for new requirements and procurement plans."
According to Keret, IAI offerings, some of which are unveiled here at Le Bourget for the first time, aim at the most attractive growth segments in future defense markets, including net-centric warfare capabilities, early warning and intelligence, and unmanned systems.
"These areas are being transformed today through the implementation of advanced net-centric systems. These changes are being pursued by most modern armies, striving to implement the lessons of modern conflicts in the Balkans, Mid-East, and Central-Asia," he notes.
"To maintain high alert and preparedness against evolving threats, both domestic and global, governments are demanding new generations of intelligence-gathering and early-warning capabilities that collect, process and respond faster than ever. IAI has been this business for many years, and has responded to this new trend since the drafting of new requirements by the Israeli MOD, several years ago."
This trend resulted in the development of net-centric defense and intelligence capabilities ranging from the Arrow missile defense system, the Phalcon early warning systems, space reconnaissance assets and advanced electronic intelligence systems, to homeland security systems, including protection of aircraft from missile attacks and the establishment of Israel's new real-time imagery processing and exploitation center.
In space, IAI is the Israeli leader in space technology, and prime contractor for all the country's space programs, including the Ofeq spy satellite, Techsar military radar (SAR) satellite and AMOS communications satellites.
IAI has won subcontract work for the Boeing 787 program with a total estimated multi-year value of half-a-billion dollars. IAI is recognized as one of the leading independent MRO providers in the world market, specializing in freighter conversions programs. "We developed and implemented Type Certificates for conversions of various types of Boeing 737, 757, 767, 747-200 and 747-400, which we expect to be the most dominant player in this market in coming years," said Moshe Keret, IAI’s president and CEO.
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Keret emphasizes that "IAI forged global teaming agreements with local and foreign companies, as well as R&D establishments, which positions it to better compete for foreign projects in Europe and Asia. This is an excellent way to cooperate. In these programs the interest is purely professional. There are no politics involved, and we all feel and are treated as equals. To encourage such cooperation we launched, together with Elbit and RAFAEL, the aeronautics and space industries of Israel” says Keret.
Cooperation with Europe is not a trivial undertaking for Israel, but Keret is satisfied with the scale, intensity and results of this cooperation.
"While Europe is a tough market to crack, we must overcome this obstacle, and gain our share of this important market" he says. "In past years we have made important progress in establishing such cooperation, working with companies such as EADS and the French CNES. We also participate in, and sometime lead, several cooperative R&D programs under the European Communit’s V and VI programs and are gearing up to participate in the VII program as well. So far we consider the results have justified our efforts and investments.
"We plan to increase our cooperation with European companies, since we see great synergy between the capabilities and requirements of the European market in general, and our technological capabilities and global presence," notes Keret, "We would like to promote partnerships that could benefit from our scale, global presence and openness for cooperation, which should be mutually beneficial. We decided to focus on issues in which we excel, while leaving significant business segments to our partners. Cooperation also provides better market access improving our competitiveness in global and local markets, which enable us to expand without inflating our organization and manpower.” —Tamir Eshel
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