With cutting-edge anti-missile systems and two new submarines that can carry nuclear weapons, Israel is readying a new generation of armaments designed to defend itself against distant Iran as well as Tehran's proxy armies on its borders.
Having failed to crush Hamas' firepower in its Gaza
offensive last winter, or Hezbollah's in its 2006 war in Lebanon,
Israel is turning to an increasingly sophisticated mix of defensive
technology.
A system that can unleash a metallic cloud to shoot down incoming rockets in the skies over Gaza
or Lebanon has already been successfully tested, according to its
maker, and is expected to be deployed next year. The army is developing
a new generation of its Arrow defense system designed to shoot down
Iran's long-range Shihab missiles outside the Earth's atmosphere.
It has three German-made Dolphin submarines and is buying two more.
They can be equipped with nuclear-tipped missiles which analysts say
could be stationed off the coast of Iran. Israel says Iran, despite its
denials, is trying to acquire atomic weapons. It has never confirmed
its Dolphin fleet has nuclear capabilities, but senior officials
acknowledge that commanders are fast at work devising a strike plan in
case diplomacy fails.
The missile projects have their critics
in Israel, who question their effectiveness and say they are too
costly. And many Israelis would probably agree with U.S. former President Bill Clinton's
recent warning to an Israeli audience that the country could achieve
true security only by making peace with its enemies, who he said would
always be able to improve their ability to attack.
"The trajectory of technology is not your friend," he said. "You need to get this done."
Under their overarching fear of nuclear annihilation by Iran, whose
regime has repeatedly called for Israel's extinction, the more
immediate threat is seen as coming from Iranian-backed Hezbollah and
Hamas.
Israel's military believes Hezbollah has tripled its
prewar arsenal to more than 40,000 rockets, some of which can strike
virtually anywhere in Israel — a dramatic improvement over the
short-range missiles fired in 2006.
Hamas has also increased
its rocket arsenal since last winter's fighting, said a senior military
official who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with army
regulations. Hamas recently test-fired a rocket that can travel up to
60 kilometers (40 miles), putting the Tel Aviv area within range for
the first time, according to Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, Israel's military
intelligence chief.
Israel's defense industry says it is close
to deploying Iron Dome, a system that will use cameras and radar to
track incoming rockets and shoot them down within seconds of their
launch. The system is so sophisticated that it can almost instantly
predict where a rocket will land, changing its calculations to account
for wind, sun and other conditions in fractions of a second.
Shooting down a missile is a bit like stopping a bullet with a bullet.
But Eyal Ron, one of Iron Dome's developers, said his system will fire
an interceptor that explodes into a cloud of small pieces which make it
unnecessary to score a direct hit.
"It's a great advantage
because to bring an interceptor to a target flying at incredible speed
to an exact point is very hard," said Ron, a specialist at mPrest
Systems Ltd., an Israeli software firm developing the system along with
local arms giant Rafael.
He said recent tests in Israel's
southern desert were successful, and a final dress rehearsal is
expected in December before the system goes live next year.
While Israelis who have endured years of rocket fire from Gaza are sure
to welcome Iron Dome, the system does not have wall-to-wall support.
"Maybe it will be good during times like this when you have 10 rockets,
but not for a war. If you invest in such a system, I think you're going
to go bankrupt," said Gabriel Saboni, the head of the military research
program at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies.
Iron Dome is one part of a larger strategy that includes more tanks and
dozens of new armored personnel carriers equipped with technology to
repel anti-tank missiles.
The ultimate trump card is a nuclear arsenal Israel refuses to acknowledge but which no one doubts exists.
The strategy that became obvious in the Lebanon and Gaza wars was
simply one of overwhelming force to deter further attack.
This
policy appears to have bought Israel a fragile calm on both its
northern and southern borders, but it has come at a heavy price.
The military brass are deeply concerned that international criticism of
Israel's conduct of the Gaza war, including allegations of war crimes
contained in a high-profile U.N. report, will tie their hands in the
future.
Military officials speaking on condition of anonymity
said large resources are going into developing increasingly accurate
weapons, such as bombs that cause damage over a smaller area and
noisemaking explosions that scare away civilians before real bombs are
dropped.
Few expect the current quiet to last indefinitely, and
muscle-flexing on all sides attests to the elusiveness of a peaceful
Middle East.
Iran is conducting large-scale air defense war
games this week designed to protect its nuclear facilities from attack.
Israel recently moved warships through the Red Sea toward Iran, and
three weeks ago the Israeli navy captured a ship, the Francop, that it
said was carrying a huge cache of Iranian weapons bound for Hezbollah.
Last week Netanyahu boarded a Dolphin submarine and then the missile
ship that led the capture of the Francop. He thanked crew members for
seizing the haul and told them that Israel is Iran's first target, "but
not the last" — reflecting his contention that Iranian ambitions are
not just an Israeli problem. (@dailypress)
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