The nearly three decade old company produces a suite of producta that
include Airborne pods - Recce, SAR, Chaff and Flares and EW Long
Range Oblique Photography (LOROP) Reconnaissance Pod (Recce Pod)
design and manufacture for F-16 and F-4. The pods are fully equipped
ready for the integration of specific sensor suites. Israel's Elisra
is a major supplier of reconnaissance cameras and other electronic
hardware.
It also manufactures chaff and flares dispensing pods for fighter
aircraft. Some of its projects include F-16 carried reconnaissance
pods, already delivered to four air forces.
A recent contract was the CASA CN-235 Conversion to "Open Sky Treaty"
special mission (observation) aircraft for the Turkish Air Force.
S.G.D. cooperates with Israel Aircraft Industries in its upgrading programs.
Open Skies (OS) is an international treaty between NATO and former
Warsaw Pact Nations which allows all to overfly one another, within
certain limitations.
The Treaty on Open Skies entered into force on January 1, 2002, and
currently has 30 states as parties. The Treaty establishes a regime
of unarmed aerial observation flights over the entire territory of
its participants. The Treaty is designed to enhance mutual
understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless
of size, a direct role in gathering information about military forces
and activities of concern to them. Open Skies is one of the most
wide-ranging international efforts to date to promote openness and
transparency of military forces and activities.The Treaty specifies
that the entire territory of a State Party is open to observation.
Observation flights may only be restricted for reasons of flight
safety; not for reasons of national security. Imagery collected from
Open Skies missions is available to any State Party upon request for
the cost of reproduction.
Open Skies aircraft may have video, optical, panoramic and framing
cameras for daylight photography, infra-red line scanners for a
day/night capability, and synthetic aperture radar for a day/night,
all weather capability. Photographic image quality will permit
recognition of major military equipment (e.g., permit a State Party
to distinguish between a tank and a truck), thus allowing significant
transparency of military forces and activities. Sensor categories may
be added and capabilities improved by agreement among States Parties.
S.G.D., under direct prime contract with the Turkish Air Force
(TuAF), converted a CN-235 for the OS mission. This specific
conversion is possibly the most advanced aircraft for the mission as
it features 8 camera sensors aboard, all meeting (and certified) the
Treaty's requirements, except for the IRLS which is yet to be defined
by the Treaty. The member states will be meeting in Turkey in early
July to further define the IRLS specification, based on the IRLS that
is currently carried on board the TuAF's aircraft.