U.S., Israel battle for Dutch missile contract

TEL AVIV Ñ Israel and the United States are battling to win a $250 million project for the sale of anti-tank missiles to the Netherlands.

The battle pits two allies as well as two companies that have extensive cooperation. Officials said the winner of the competition could obtain additional contracts in Europe that would exceed $2 billion by 2006.

Lockheed Martin is offering the Dutch army the Javelin while Rafael, Israel Armament Development Authority has proposed the Spike. Earlier, the Spike beat the Javelin in a competition in Finland.

The Netherlands is expected to decide on a winner over the next few weeks. Rafael is teamed with a German consortium that includes STN Atlas and Rheinmetall. STN Atlas has marketed the Spike in Europe.

Executives said the Spike is a third-generation fiberoptic data link anti-tank missile that can be launched in a fire-and-forget or fire-and-observe mode. The shoulder-fired missile, with a range of 2.5 kilometers, flies a lotted trajectory that strikes the top of the tank, the most vulnerable part of the vehicle.

Rafael, which supplies the Spike to the Israeli military, appears optimistic. "We have preceded the world by a decade in the development of anti-tank missiles, which are inseparable from the future battlefield," Avraham Mazor, head of the company's anti-tank missile division, said.

Both Israel and the United States have sent government officials to lobby the Hague. Belgium, Germany and Sweden are expected to launch competitions of new anti-tank missiles for their ground forces.

Turkey is said be favoring Rafael's NTD fiberoptic anti-tank missile, with a range of six kilometers. The NTD can be mounted on helicopters.

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