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Israeli anti-missile system shoots down major strategic threat
Jerusalem (AFP) Jan 7, 2010 Israel's soon-to-be-deployed anti-missile system, capable of intercepting barrages of rockets, may shoot down one of the biggest strategic threats facing the country in recent decades. After successfully completing its final tests this week, the Iron Dome system, providing an answer to short-range rockets and artillery shells, is planned to be integrated into the army within six months, officials said. The unique cutting-edge technology will be deployed along the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, where militants have fired thousands of projectiles against southern Israel over the past decade. In a second stage, it will be deployed along the border with Lebanon where the militant group Hezbollah is said to have an arsenal of more than 40,000 rockets. The Iron Dome will join the Arrow long-range ballistic missile defence system in an ambitious multi-layered programme to protect Israeli cities from rockets and missiles fired from Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, Syria and Iran. A third system specifically aimed at countering medium-range missiles is planned to be developed in the coming years, the ministry said. Today, five million civilians live within the range of rockets from Lebanon and Gaza, where militants are believed to have rockets capable of reaching the Tel Aviv metropolis, Israeli officials said. According to officials, the Iron Dome marks a major strategic breakthrough for Israel, which has struggled in the face of rockets fired from Lebanon since the early 1980s. "Making Iron Dome operational will transform Israel's diplomatic and security situation on the northern and southern fronts," said Pinhas Buchris, the defence ministry's director general. The interception system will also protect strategic facilities such as military bases, ports and electricity plants, which have been targeted in attacks from Gaza and Lebanon. "The missiles and rockets have been a strategic threat because they led to major Israeli policy shifts by launching offensives in Lebanon and Gaza," ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror told AFP. The elimination of this threat would prevent a repeat of the international criticism Israel has had to face following last year's offensive in the Gaza Strip, said Ephraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies. "The system neutralises one of the foundations of the enemy's strategy which says that due to the Israeli army's total superiority, the only way to target Israel is by hitting its population centres," he said. The Iron Dome will not only mark a strategic shift in war, but also in peace. Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have for years expressed fear that a Palestinian state in the West Bank would place Israel's only international airport within range of rockets. "With the new system, Israel can eliminate one of the biggest potential threats on the Ben Gurion airport in a future peace deal with the Palestinians," Dror said. But Israeli officials do not believe the new system would put an end to the rocket attacks. "There is no 100 percent protection. Militants will continue firing rockets and try to launch small attacks against Israel," Dror said.
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Israel succesfuly tests anti-rocket systemJerusalem (AFP) Jan 6, 2010 Israel has completed tests on its Iron Dome anti-missile system, designed to provide a response to the thousands of rockets fired at Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah, the defence ministry said. The system, which can intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells, underwent its final tests in the past 48 hours, a statement said. "For the first time, Iron Dome faced multiple threats simultaneously. All the threats were intercepted with complete success," the statement said. The next phase in the development of the system was to integrate it into the army, the statement said. ... read more |
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