Latest news with #IceBreaker
India.com
3 days ago
- Business
- India.com
All about Ice Breaker, the stealth missile developed by Israel that could help India keep China, Pakistan under control
(Image: New Delhi: Pakistani terrorists killed 26 innocent civilians in Pahalgam on April 22 and India hit back with Operation Sindoor. Indian Armed Forces, especially the Indian Air Force (IAF) played a crucial role in the military conflict that lasted for four days and India achieved big success against Pakistan. Now, the Indian Air Force is pondering about getting Israel's stealthy air-launched cruise missile 'Ice Breaker'. In fact, some reports suggest that the IAF is evaluating the purchase and induction of the Ice Breaker in its fleet. During Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, the IAF used BrahMos missiles among others with a very high success rate. If India gets Ice Breaker, then it will further enhance its military might. Ice Breaker is a class apart for long-range precision strikes. If India gets it then China and Pakistan will not dare fool around. What is Ice Breaker? According to Rafael website, 'Ice Breaker is a long-range, autonomous, precision-guided weapon system enabling significant attack performance against a variety of high-value land and sea targets. The system – which is resilient to electronic countermeasures and fully operational in GNSS-denied arenas – uses an advanced, all-weather electro-optical IIR seeker with scene-matching and Automatic Target Recognition capabilities. 'It counters Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS) with a low-level terrain following flight pattern above land, sea skimming above sea, VLO (Very Low Observable), and salvo attack capability. Compact and lightweight, Ice Breaker is suitable for jet fighters, light attack aircraft, and helicopters as well as small maritime vessels and ground vehicles.' The Ice Breaker uses a highly advanced electro-optical seeker that can detect targets in all weather conditions and it is equipped with artificial intelligence that helps it recognize targets and ensures it only engages hostile ones, thus keeping a check on collateral damage. The Ice Breaker flies at incredibly low level, almost touching the ground. Its design makes it very hard to detect. Thus it just zooms past even the most sophisticated air defenses. The Ice Breaker is very compact and lightweight, under 400 kg and one of its features includes smart engagement as it can work in a synchronized attack with multiple missiles which boosts its ability to penetrate well-defended targets.
India.com
3 days ago
- India.com
Meet Ice Breaker: Israels Stealth Missile That Could Arm India Against China, Pakistan
photoDetails english 2910098 With its thumping success against Pakistan in the recent 4-day conflict following Operation Sindoor, the Indian Air Force is now looking to arm itself with Israel's stealthy air-launched cruise missile 'Ice Breaker'. According to reports, the IAF is evaluating the purchase and induction of the Ice Breaker in its fleet. Notably, the IAF used BrahMos missiles among others during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan, Ice Breaker will be another feather in the Air Force's cap. When it comes to Ice Breaker, it's definitely a class apart for long-range precision strikes. If inducted, Ice Breaker will surely give chills to China and Pakistan. Updated:Jun 02, 2025, 04:54 PM IST Long-Range, Smart Strike 1 / 7 So, what exactly is the Ice Breaker? Imagine a super-smart, long-range missile that knows how to find its target with incredible accuracy, even in really tough conditions. It's built to deliver a punch against a whole range of high-value targets, whether they're on land or at sea, and it does so with surprising autonomy. It's essentially a precision-guided weapon that can operate on its own, even if GPS signals are jammed. Brains & Vision 2 / 7 One of the coolest things about the Ice Breaker is its brain. It uses an incredibly advanced electro-optical seeker that can "see" in all weather conditions, almost like it has its own pair of super-sharp eyes. Plus, it's loaded with artificial intelligence that helps it recognize targets and ensures it only engages hostile ones, keeping collateral damage to a minimum. Ghost Mode: Staying Stealthy 3 / 7 Imagine a weapon that can just slip past even the most sophisticated air defenses without being seen. That's the Ice Breaker for you! It flies incredibly low, hugging the terrain or skimming the waves, and its design makes it very hard to detect. This 'Very Low Observable' (VLO) capability gives it a significant edge in getting to its target unnoticed. Ready For Anything 4 / 7 This isn't a one-trick pony. The Ice Breaker is remarkably compact and lightweight – under 400 kg! This means it can be launched from almost anything: jet fighters, light attack aircraft, helicopters, even small maritime vessels and ground vehicles. It truly offers a multi-service capability, making it incredibly adaptable to various operational needs. Surgical Strikes 5 / 7 The Ice Breaker is all about smart engagement. It can work in a synchronized attack with multiple missiles, enhancing its ability to penetrate well-defended targets. And with its precise targeting and effective warhead, it ensures the desired damage is delivered, whether it's neutralization or destruction while reducing risk to uninvolved civilians nearby. Human-in-the-Loop 6 / 7 While the Ice Breaker is designed to be highly autonomous, it still keeps humans in the loop. This means that while it can operate independently, there's always an option for human decision-makers to intervene, provide backup, and assess the outcome, ensuring responsible and effective operations. It's the best of both worlds: smart automation with human oversight. Hard To Intercept 7 / 7 For those who love the nitty-gritty details, the Ice Breaker packs a serious punch in a relatively small package. It's about 4 meters long, weighs less than 400 kg, and can hit targets up to 300 km away at high subsonic speeds, carrying a 250 lb warhead. It truly is a testament to modern engineering, blending power, intelligence, and range into one formidable system.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US-Israeli industry team pitches ‘Bullseye' long-range missile
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — General Atomics and Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems are teaming up to produce a long-range precision-guided missile for the U.S. market, the companies announced this week. The weapon, dubbed Bullseye, will be launchable from the sea, land and air, with the developers promising 'significant attack performance against high-value targets at an affordable price point.' 'We're getting lessons learned on cost reduction, and we'll build at least half the missile in the United States,' Scott Forney, President of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, was quoted as saying by Naval News. Development of the weapon was announced at the Sea-Air-Space 2025 conference in Maryland. The Bullseye missile appears to be derived from Rafael's Ice Breaker system, which has a 300-kilometer (186 miles) range. Unlike Ice Breaker, however, the new missile will be able to carry various warheads and propulsion systems, General Atomics said on the new product's web page. The weapon's makers also highlighted the 'very low observable' stealth characteristics, autonomous target recognition, and resilience in GPS-denied environments. Autonomous target recognition has been an area of concern for defense researchers but no comprehensive international rules yet exist on the level of human involvement that a weapons system must have. General Atomics bills the Bullseye as 'fully autonomous with man-in-the-loop decision back-up capability' on the company's spec sheet. The missile will also be equipped with 'advanced mission planning' and 'synchronized attack capability.' The new missile has reportedly reached Technology Readiness Level 8, with Rafael having already completed aerodynamics, engine, seeker and launch integration testing. The missile is compatible with jet fighters, light attack aircraft, helicopters, small maritime vessels and ground vehicles, the arms manufacturer said. Initial deliveries are slated for late 2025, General Atomics said. The partnership seeks to leverage Rafael's combat-proven missile technology—including systems like Iron Dome and Spike missiles—with GA-EMS's U.S.-based manufacturing expertise in Tupelo, Mississippi. It also highlights the continuing close ties between the two countries' defense establishments at a time when other traditional U.S. partners have been estranged.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bullseye Standoff Weapon Based On Israeli Cruise Missile Unveiled By General Atomics
General Atomics has officially unveiled the new Bullseye standoff precision-guided missile that it's now working with alongside Israeli defense contractor Rafael. The new weapon leverages Rafael's existing Ice Breaker missile and is being offered to the U.S. military and allies at a time when the Pentagon is increasingly focused on procuring affordable standoff weapons that can be rapidly produced en masse for future contingencies, especially in the Indo-Pacific theater. While a modular design able to be used or adapted for a variety of missions, General Atomics told TWZ it initially is aiming to sell the missile for maritime strike. The U.S. firm displayed a full-size mockup of the Bullseye at the Sea-Air-Space Conference, now taking place at National Harbor, Maryland. TWZ has multiple staff on the ground at the event. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems Group (GA-EMS) today also announced the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, under which the American firm will be their partner and the U.S. prime contractor to manufacture the missile. General Atomics would build the missile at its site in Tupelo, Mississippi. The Bullseye missile 'will meet U.S. military specifications and will provide multi-platform launch capabilities from air, ground, and sea for strike mass at an affordable price point,' GA-EMS said in a media release today. The prominent panels on the top of the Bullseye may well be associated with its satellite communications system, which sends data from the missile to the operator and allows it to be reprogrammed in flight. They could also be part of a system for providing navigation in GPS-denied environments and other challenging scenarios. 'We are excited to work with Rafael to introduce Bullseye, a highly effective deep-strike missile,' said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. 'Bullseye will be built in the U.S. for delivery to U.S. military customers to support a variety of critical Department of Defense and coalition partners' precision-fires missions.' Forney added: 'By leveraging Rafael's extensive investment in the design, maturation and testing of a unique, modular missile, we can reduce risk and development costs and provide production-scale delivery of a highly capable, high-performance precision-guided missile at significant per-unit cost-savings.' 'As a company that has spent decades pushing the boundaries of precision-strike technology, we are proud to partner with GA-EMS on the Bullseye program,' said Yuval Miller, executive vice president and head of Rafael's Air & C4ISR Systems Division. 'By combining Rafael's combat-proven innovative fifth-generation missile technologies with GA-EMS's advanced manufacturing, assembly, integration and test expertise, Bullseye will deliver unprecedented accuracy, flexibility and affordability, giving warfighters a state-of-the-art missile system that hits its mark and adapts to evolving mission needs.' While today's GA-EMS media release didn't mention Rafael's Ice Breaker, the company's Scott Forney confirmed to TWZ ahead of Sea-Air-Space, that the new missile is 'leveraging the Ice Breaker program.' In terms of potential sales, Forney said that he personally unveiled the Bullseye missile to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth last week and 'we have been previewing it with some of our senior customers across the Pentagon.' In terms of specifications, GA-EMS told TWZ that the Bullseye missile will have a length of just under four meters (13.1 feet) with a wingspan of just over two meters (6.6 feet) when deployed. This suggests that the dimensions are similar, if not identical, to the Rafael Ice Breaker. Depending on the payload, the Bullseye will weigh 'under 1,000 pounds,' according to Forney, and will be able to strike targets at ranges 'in excess of 300 kilometers' (186 miles). The missile is powered by a small jet engine and is considered to have low observable (LO) to the warhead, this will be available in two versions, weighing either 500 pounds or 250 pounds, both of them offering dual-use capabilities: combining the effects of a general-purpose high-explosive and a penetrating warhead. Forney added that the company wants to compete with 'something like the Joint Strike Missile' (JSM) in terms of range, but to offer a 'significantly' lower cost. Produced by Kongsberg of Norway, the JSM appears very similar to the Bullseye, with the same overall length, stealthy features, and an imaging infrared seeker giving it very precise targeting capability that cannot be jammed using RF countermeasures while in the terminal phase of flight. The Bullseye missile is a highly modular design and, while the initial sales opportunities are likely to be for the air-launched version, the weapons will also be suitable for launch from sea and ground platforms. Forney said that, while GA-EMS is 'going hard for the air-launched opportunities,' the missile can also be canister-launched from a Mk 41 Vertical Launch System or an MLRS, for example. At this point, Forney thinks there's a particular demand in the United States for an air-launched missile that can be used against maritime targets, and he thinks the Bullseye would be 'a perfect opportunity' for the U.S. Navy, bearing in mind that service's current lack of anti-ship weapons in this class. The maritime target set is also well suited to the missile's baseline seeker technology, which is directly leveraged from the Ice Breaker. According to Rafael, the Ice Breaker 'utilizes an advanced, all-weather, electro-optical imaging infrared (IIR) seeker,' which includes 'scene-matching algorithms and Automatic Target Recognition (ATR).' Rafael's Yuval Miller told TWZ that the Israeli company considers the Bullseye to be a 'fifth-generation missile,' in that it's able to make its way to the target even in a GPS-denied environment throughout the entire flight, and also to survive against different types of threats. Its survivability will be aided by a sea-skimming flight profile for anti-ship strike missions, as well as being able to fly low around ground terrain. TWZ was the first to report on the existence of what was then a still-unnamed air-to-surface missile in the works at General Atomics, back in January of this year, during the Surface Navy Association's main annual symposium. At that point, GA-EMS offered a rendering of the new weapon, then referred to simply as the 'Strike Missile.' This was a notably slab-sided design with an air-breathing propulsion system and a single ventral intake. At that point, no other details were offered about the missile's size, performance, or other specifications. Presumably, the rendering was intended simply as a placeholder, since the mockup unveiled today appears to be almost identical to the Ice Breaker. Leveraging this existing technology makes a lot of sense for GA-EMS, in terms of being able to get the weapon to market quickly. This factor also recognizes the considerable and growing interest, especially within the U.S. military, in new air-launched strike munitions, particularly ones that are cheaper and easier to produce than existing designs. The Bullseye is very clearly aimed at this market segment, with the U.S. military now deeplu interested in acquiring new air-launched strike munitions that can be produced readily at scale, and economically, while also still offering useful standoff range. Fielding weapons in this class is increasingly seen as vital for providing sufficient strike capacity in future conflicts, especially high-end ones like a fight in the Pacific against China, and allowing for the relatively rapid replenishment of stockpiles. The war in Ukraine, in particular, has dramatically highlighted the need for extensive weapons stockpiles, especially in the case of long-range effects, and having the industrial capacity to rapidly ramp up production of such munitions when required. One prime example of these kinds of efforts is the Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV) project, run by the Air Force and the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), which is seen as being a potential stepping stone to new, lower-cost cruise missiles. General Atomics is not one of the four companies to have received an ETV contract — Anduril Industries, Integrated Solutions for Systems, Inc., Leidos subsidiary Dynetics, and Zone 5 Technologies are those that have. With that in mind, it perhaps makes more sense that, at first, GA-EMS is looking to pitch its Bullseye most aggressively for potential U.S. Navy contracts. Should this be successful, it could open the door to many other unique and combat-proven weapons from Israeli manufacturers being brought to the U.S. market. Key examples would include the Delilah and Rampage standoff missiles, and the Rocks air-launched ballistic missile. The Spike anti-amor missile, notably, is already in the U.S. inventory. At this stage, Rafael has already performed aerodynamics, engine, seeker, launch integration and testing, GA-EMS, although it's not entirely clear if this refers to the original Ice Breaker or the 'Americanized' Bullseye. Regardless, the U.S. firm says that further testing is now being scheduled 'for flight qualification and to prove operational readiness.' However, with missiles potentially ready for delivery starting in late 2025, should the U.S. military order the Bullseye, in whatever form, it could get its hands on operational examples of the missile sooner rather than later. Contact the author: thomas@
