Luz (missile)

Luz missile, surface-to-surface versions, 1961.

The RAFAEL Luz (Hebrew: לוז, Hazelnut) was the first missile built in Israel. RAFAEL developed the missile using knowledge gained from the French MD-620 missile which was built for the Israel Defense Forces by Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation.^[1] Originally intended to have three versions – surface-to-surface, air-to-ground and anti-ship,^[2] technical problems and budget cuts forced Rafael to produce the surface-to-surface and air-to-ground versions alone, although they never saw operational service.

Development

The missile, with a length of about 3 meters, had a range of 27 km. It was launched from a ground vehicle carrying two missiles, and guided by an operator using a joystick and an electro-optical guidance system

The anti-ship variant was dropped for budgetary and technical reasons, as the electro-optical guidance system and joystick performed poorly in poor lighting conditions. Ori Even-Tov, an engineer at Rafael, had already proposed alternative solutions, but these were rejected.^[3] The anti-ship version would later be developed into the successful IAI Gabriel. In 1962, the surface-to-surface and air-to-ground variants were dropped as well before becoming fully operational, with the IDF instead favoring the use of artillery due to cost-benefit reasons.

While the Luz did not see operational service, the Israeli armaments industry did eventually develop other guided missiles which became operational, such as the Popeye and the smaller Spike NLOS (aka "Tamuz"). These (as well as the Gabriel descendent of the Luz) were not only deployed by the IDF but were also widely exported for use by foreign militaries.

References

Military equipment produced by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems
Missiles, rockets, and projectiles	Barak 1[1] Derby Luz MATADOR[2] Popeye Python Shafrir SIMON Spike Sparrow
Remote weapon stations	Rafael Samson Typhoon
Air-defense systems	Barak 1[1] David's Sling[3] Iron Beam Iron Dome SPYDER
Surface vehicles	Golan Armored Vehicle Protector USV Wolf Armoured Vehicle[4]
Miscellaneous	LITENING (targeting pod)[5] Spice (guidance kit) Trophy (countermeasure) Sky Shield (jammer)
[1] Joint venture with IAI. [2] Joint venture with DSTA. [3] Joint venture with Raytheon. [4] Joint venture with Hatehof. [5] Joint venture with Northrop Grumman.