Soltam Systems ( he, סולתם מערכות) is an Israeli

defense contractor The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and ...

located in Yokneam, Israel. The company has been developing and manufacturing advanced artillery systems, mortars, ammunition and peripheral equipment since 1952. Soltam Systems serves armed and special forces in more than 60 countries. Among the company's major customers are the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

countries.

History

Soltam was founded in 1950 by

Shlomo Zabludowicz Shlomo Zabludowicz ( he, שלמה זבלודוביץ'; 1914–1994) was a Polish-born Israeli businessman. He gained wealth through the armament trade between the Finnish weapons manufacturer Tampella and Israel. Biography Shlomo Zabludowicz wa ...

as the IDF artillery manufacturer. The company was founded as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between the Israeli

Solel Boneh Solel Boneh ( he, סולל בונה, lit. ''Paving and Building'') is the oldest, and one of the largest, construction and civil engineering companies in Israel. History During British rule (1921-1948) Solel Boneh was founded in 1921 in British ...

and Luxembourg-based Salgad (Societe Anonyme Luxembourgoise de Gestion et D'Administration) which was a fully owned subsidiary of the Finnish artillery and mortar manufacturer

Tampella Oy Tampella Ab was a Finnish heavy industry manufacturer, a maker of paper machines, locomotives, military weaponry, as well as wood-based products such as packaging. The company was based mainly in the Naistenlahti district of the city of ...

. In 1998, Koor Industries sold Soltam to MIKAL Group. In October 2010, Soltam was sold to

Elbit Systems Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based international defense electronics company engaged in a wide range of programs throughout the world. The company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land ...

and is now entirely owned by them.

Products

Artillery

* ATMOS 2000 155 mm autonomous, truck mounted

self-propelled Self-propelled may refer to * Human-powered transport, humans moving themselves (and their cargo) via their own muscle energy * Machines that power their own movement: ** Automobile (from ''auto-'' + ''mobile'', "self-moving") ** Locomotive (from ...

gun *

ATHOS 2052 Soltam Systems ( he, סולתם מערכות) is an Israeli defense contractor located in Yokneam, Israel. The company has been developing and manufacturing advanced artillery systems, mortars, ammunition and peripheral equipment since 1952. ...

155 mm autonomous towed howitzer system * M-68 towed 155 mm howitzer * M-71 towed 155 mm howitzer *

Rascal Rascal or rascals may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Rascal'' (book), a 1963 children's book by Sterling North ** ''Rascal'' (film), a 1969 Walt Disney adaptation of Sterling North's book * ''Rascals'' (1938 film), an American comedy-dra ...

self-propelled 155 mm howitzer * Slammer (Sholef) -

Merkava The Merkava ( he, מרכבה, , "chariot") is a series of main battle tanks used by the Israel Defense Forces and the backbone of the IDF's armored corps. The tank began development in 1970, and its first generation, the Merkava mark 1, enter ...

-based self-propelled 155 mm howitzer

Mortars

Soltam designs and manufactures a wide range of mortars, to suit a variety of military applications. Soltam supplies a variety of mortars, such as backpacked, under turret, towed and self-propelled recoiling mortars on wheeled or tracked vehicles. All mortars are simple to operate and fast in deployment. Soltam mortars are made of high quality alloy steel for extra toughness and stability. Mortar systems come with all auxiliary equipment necessary for field operation, including fire control computer, ballistic computer,

INS INS or Ins or ''variant'', may refer to: Places * Ins, Switzerland, a municipality * Creech Air Force Base (IATA airport code INS) * Indonesia, ITF and UNDP code INS Biology *''Ins'', a New World genus of bee flies * INS, the gene for the insulin ...

, and target acquisition and location systems. All types of mortar ammunition in use worldwide are authorized to be used with Soltam mortars. * M-66 160 mm mortar * 120 mm mortar ** Cardom 120 mm autonomous recoil mortar system (RMS) **

Soltam M-65 The Soltam M-65 is a 120 mm mortar that was developed by Tampella in 1953 via introduction of new baseplate for 120 Krh/40 invented by Hans Otto Donner. In 1960s Soltam Systems of Israel bought a license. The mortar system comes in two vers ...

120 mm mortar towed ** Soltam K6 120mm mortar * 81 mm mortar **B499 Long Range **B502 Long Range Split Barrel **B599 Extended Range **CC8 vehicle mounted mortar **CARDOM Recoil Mortar System vehicle mounted mortar * 60 mm mortar ** 60 mm commando mortars ** 60 mm extended range mortars ** Vehicle mounted 60 mm mortar - internal and external

Ammunition

Soltam manufactures a wide range of mortar ammunition, ranging in caliber and in use (

High Explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An e ...

HE, Smoke and training). All mortars comply with NATO standards. * 160 mm * 120 mm * 81 mm * 60 mm

References

External links

Elbit Systems (Owners of the Soltam brand)
{{automotive industry in Israel Defense companies of Israel Tampella