Rafael executive VP to 'Post': We are a cornerstone of Israel's story
One of the best-known creations of Rafael is the Iron Dome missile protection system.
By ALAN ROSENBAUMRafael executive vice president Dr. Ran Gozali is seen addressing The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference.(photo credit: LIOR LEV)
Speaking at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference, Dr. Ran Gozali, executive vice-president of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, said that the company is a cornerstone in the story of the State of Israel and the embodiment of the start-up nation. Gozali noted that Rafael was originally formed as the science corps of the new state and has become a unique combination of a national lab alongside a world-class defense technology system provider.Gozali, speaking with Seth Frantzman, Middle East correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, said that Rafael works in the junction between innovation, technology, system development and solving real unmet operational needs of the IDF that are relevant to the global market.For the full conference, click here >>One of the best-known creations of Rafael is the Iron Dome missile defense system. Gozali recalls going to Sderot in 2006 and seeing children celebrating their birthday in huge shelters. Witnessing this scene prompted Rafael to develop a solution that introduced the most advanced system alongside advanced artificial intelligence algorithms to perform data fusion and to identify the physical trajectories of targets to determine whether it needs to intercept them, where and how.These capabilities and others are being further developed to introduce the next evolution of artificial intelligence in the battlefield, essentially imitating the way our brains work. Examples include computer vision for navigation in a GPS-denied environment, data fusion and data science for situational awareness, automatic target recognition, mission planning and many other complex tasks that are shifted from the soldier or the commander to the computer in real operational battlefields.Gozali talked about the human spirit behind these unique developments. “I’ve been lucky to work with the brightest scientists and engineers in Israel, solving the most challenging problems, developing cutting edge technologies and contributing significantly to the IDF, the security of the State of Israel and propelling the economy by delivering systems to our customers and allies around the world.”
