Israeli satcom firm Gilat Satellite Networks is preparing to move hundreds of employees to the US as part of its new defense division, according to Gilad Landsberg, the head of the new division.
Gilat announced last month that it had established Gilat Defense in an effort to bolster partnerships with the US Defense Department. The company held a formal launch of the new division at last week’s Satellite conference in DC, where Payload chatted with Landsberg about the company’s pivot to defense and what’s next.
Growth opportunity: Landsberg laid out three major areas where he’s predicting expanded use of satcom for national security customers:
- Traditional satellite communications to add resiliency to comms in conflict
- Using satellites to operate UAVs with minimal lag time
- Developing Transportable Optical Ground Stations (TOGS) to obfuscate where optical signals are coming from
On the move: “It’s not a bunch of BD and sales guys that we just gave them the title of Gilat Defense. It’s much more than that,” Landsberg said of the new division.
The establishment of Gilat Defense includes:
- A new organizational chart, which groups the company’s Data Path and Wavestream business segments together, plus adds a new Global Defense Unit to pursue deals beyond the US
- The establishment of a new US HQ in northern Virginia
- The relocation of ~300 employees from Israel to the US
- A shift in how the company allocates its resources and manpower to prioritize defense
Worldwide: Gilat has already demonstrated its worldwide appeal. This month, the company announced a $6M contract to build a military comms network with an unnamed partner in Asia, and Landsberg said he sees lots of opportunities in that region.
“It’s the first significant contract after establishing Gilat Defense,” he said, noting that Gilat has worked with the Asian customer before.
