DOME AGAINST THE FLYING SAUCER;ISRAEL VS HEZBOLLAH

BALANCE OF TERROR

Whilst many details are classified, official statements tend to refer to the ‘multi-layered' nature of Israel's anti-missile arrangements. Given the unique complexity of threats, it is not surprising that Israel's defence doctrine runs deeper than that of any other country in the world.This was so with ‘passive' defence programs to counter missile threats implemented since the 1950s, when shelters were built across the country, and in the 1990s, when gas masks were issued to every citizen in the face of concern that chemical warheads would be used by Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Today, equally unprecedented developments are occurring in respect of "Active Defence".

Hezbollah Missile Range

Israel on Sunday, March 27,2011 , deployed a still experimental anti-missile system to protect residents within striking distance of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, a clear sign that Israeli leaders do not believe that rocket fire from the territory will abate soon.

How Iron Dome works

An initial battery was deployed around the southern city of Beersheba, 25 miles from the Gaza border, as increased Palestinian rocket fire sent Israelis scurrying into shelters all across southern Israel in recent days. Israeli aircraft struck a Palestinian rocket squad in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing two militants as the military activated a new defense system to shoot down incoming rockets.

New interceptor system to thwart incoming missiles

The IDF Blog has posted the numbers for Throughout the year 2010,as over 235 Grad missiles, Qassam rockets and mortar shells, about 251 in 2009 after Operation Cast Lead, about 235 in 2010,and about 130 this year so far. That's about 616 rockets and mortars fired over the past 2 years during the Hamas ceasefire.

In a number of tests overseen by the Defense Ministry, the IAF and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel’s Iron Dome this week successfully intercepted a number of missile barrages mimicking Qassam and longer-range Grad-model Katyusha rockets known to be in Hamas’s and Hizbullah’s arsenal.

The government approved Iron Dome in 2007 and developers have compared the effort to a high-tech start-up, working around the clock in small teams to perfect its weapons, radar and software systems.The developer, local defence contractor Rafael, declared the system ready for use last year.Iron Dome uses sophisticated cameras and radar to track incoming rockets, determine where they will land, and intercept and destroy them far from their targets.

Israeli missile is launched from the Iron Dome missile system in response to a rocket launch from the nearby Palestinian Gaza Strip close to the Israeli city of Ashkelon on April 9, 2011.

If the system determines the rocket is headed to an open area where casualties are unlikely, it can allow the weapon to explode on the ground.Brigadier-Geneneral Doron Gavish, commander of Israel's air defence corps, said Iron Dome had passed a series of tests and reached its "evaluation phase" in the field.It is expected to be fully operational in a matter of months.

Israel's 'miracle' anti-rocket defense plan raises anxieties.

He added that it was only supposed to be deployed later in the year, but it was put into operation earlier because of the recent rocket attacks from Gaza."Obviously, after what we saw in the last few weeks, we accelerated the phases," he said, standing before the brown, box-like battery on the outskirts of Beersheba, southern Israel's largest city with a population of nearly 200,000.

Iron dome laser.In light of reinvigorated threats of "open war" from Hezbollah and fresh calls by Iran for Israel's imminent destruction, Israel has taken the precautionary measure of reactivating its Patriot air defence system near Haifa in northern Israel for the first time since the Second Lebanon War .

Due to continous barrage of rockets attack,Israel has intensify its efforts to build effective defenses to counter the Qassam. The Israeli government has fast-tracked a domestically-built system called Iron Dome that was tested earlier this year. Iron Dome is designed to launch small kinetic interceptors that can take down short-range threats like Qassam and Katyusha rockets or 155mm artillery shells. Deployment — previously scheduled for next year — is now scheduled for 2010, with anti-rocket units to be stationed in northern and southern Israel.

Israeli officials said the system while being welcome for the security of Israel,it may not guarantee their safety,100%-Reuters

A second anti-missile battery will be deployed in another large southern city, Ashdod, the military said, without specifying a date.Officials refused to say how many batteries would be deployed altogether, what their range was, or how much the system would cost. Analysts have estimated the cost of shooting down a rocket could be tens of thousands of dollars, compared to just a few hundred dollars to produce the rocket.Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu acknowledged that the system, called Iron Dome, would provide only partial protection.

Iron Dome Israel-'gamechanger'

“I do not want to foster the illusion that Iron Dome, which we are deploying today for the first time, will provide a complete or comprehensive answer,’’ Netanyahu said after a weekly cabinet meeting Sunday.Netanyahu said that Israel has no interest in an escalation of hostilities with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, but that “we will not hesitate to use the might of the Israel Defense Forces against anyone who attacks our people.”

Israeli soldiers in front of an Iron Dome launcher

On Sunday, the Israeli air force reportedly killed two militants from the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad who the military said were preparing to fire rockets or mortar shells into Israel.The Iron Dome system was rushed into service amid discussion of a possible new, broader Israeli military offensive against the Hamas leadership in Gaza, which Israel describes as a terrorist group but which is also a major force in Palestinian politics.

Iron Dome amir interceptor missile

Israel launched a widely criticized bombardment of the coastal territory in late 2008 to try to put an end to rocket attacks. The conflict left an estimated 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.Using cameras and radars to track incoming projectiles, the Iron Dome system was developed with more than $200 million in U.S. assistance, reportedly about half its cost.

Control Room

The system is unable to protect communities within about a 3-mile radius from Gaza, an area that sustains the most intensive mortar and rocket fire. Earlier this month, representatives of those communities appealed to Israel’s highest court to try to force the government to strengthen defenses in their towns.

Grad katyusha .Despite the ceasefire with Gaza, two grad rockets hit Ashdod over the weekend. The attacks have been blamed on Salafists, and IDF only nominally retaliated against Gazan targets in recognition of Hamas’ inability to control the Wahhabist groups.

Israel wants to avoid being drawn into conflicts on its enemies' terms. Conducting pre-emptive, targeted air strikes on rocket assembly facilities is made very difficult by Palestinian and Hezbollah militants who are adept at manipulating densely populated areas for cover.In asymmetric warfare between democratic nation states and urban guerrillas operating with fundamentally different values, human shields might yet prove more effective than sophisticated anti-ballistic missile ones.



Defence analysts agree that there is probably no such thing as a leak proof anti-rocket shield. Nonetheless, the Iron Dome system will be warmly welcomed by thousands of vulnerable residents who at present feel abandoned in Israel. Part of the thinking behind an effective anti-missile theatre is that it would facilitate strategic rather than reactionary military engagement, enabling Israel to act on its own timetable rather than that of its enemies.