"The next mega terrorist attack will happen soon, somewhere in the world. That's evolution. The world's various defense organizations are trying to take preventative action, to provide themselves with the means to prevent it and to handle it better. Everyone wants to know what the Jihadist terrorist is planning, and is trying to think several steps ahead," says Col. (res.) Arik Davidi, a former IDF Armored Corps officer, and advisory committee member to the 6th International Defense and Security Exhibition (ISDEF), held in Tel Aviv last week.
Davidi says that the 8,000 visitors to the exhibition included delegations from 90 countries, reflecting the procurements fever to provide a response to global terrorism.
250 Israeli and foreign companies displayed their homeland security wares, ranging from state-of-the-art sensors for the rapid detection and identification of chemical weapons, explosives, and drugs; a device for stabilizing a sniper's rifle to shoot a single, accurate bullet in difficult conditions, such as during a helicopter flight; advanced observation balloons which broadcast in real time; to anti-bugging devices for mobile phones.
Davidi estimates that deals made during the three-day exhibition totaled millions of dollars, but stressed that the networking established would generate the big money from bigger deals in the coming months. "The delegations at the exhibition were highly professional, with researchers and testers who thoroughly tested the systems in great detail," he said.
With the belt-tightening in defense spending in many countries, armies and police forces cannot make mistakes. "The financial worthwhileness of each and every deal is examined again and again. The budget shortage exists and is well-known in the field, and those interested in a particular system examine it carefully and want to guarantee that it is relevant to their needs, and will also offer a response to the various threats and challenges five years from now. Customers are also interested in versatile systems which can handle several things simultaneously," says Davidi.
Frequent terrorist attacks, border defense, and the routine of tackling complex security challenges, have, especially in the past 15 years, turned Israel into a homeland security powerhouse. The global market is still hungry for solutions, the shelves of Israeli companies are filled with technologies and developments. "There are few classic wars in the world, of tanks versus tanks, and planes versus planes, but there is more terrorism, there is a lot more awareness about the need to protect places, such as railway stations. All of this is happening while al-Qaida's motivation to carry out large-scale attacks has grown. This is the main reason why the latest exhibition focused on homeland security," says Davidi.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 12, 2013
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