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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Israel: 'Arrow can fully protect against Iran' |
| 2007-03-30 |
| Recent modifications made to the Arrow enable Israel's ballistic missile defense system to successfully intercept and destroy any ballistic missile in the Middle East, including nuclear-capable missiles under development by Iran, Arieh Herzog, the head of the Defense Ministry's Homa Missile Defense Agency, has told The Jerusalem Post. In a rare interview that will appear in full in Monday's Post, Herzog provides an inside look at the decision-making process behind Israel's missile defense systems, led by the Israeli- and American-developed Arrow missile, one of the only operational ballistic missile defense systems in the world. On Monday, the IAF successfully tested a newly modified Arrow interceptor. Iran and Syria, Herzog said, were investing unprecedented amounts of money in long-range ballistic missile capabilities - with the help of North Korea - and had all but given up building modern air forces. "The Iranians are continually increasing the range of their missiles," he said. "They are buying technology and in some cases even complete systems from North Korea and other countries." Herzog also said that while there might be missile systems in Iranian hands that the Arrow could not intercept, all of the ballistic missiles "currently operational" in the Islamic Republic could be destroyed by the Israeli defense system. "Our Arrow operational system can without a doubt deal with all of the operational threats in the Middle East, particularly in Iran and Syria," he declared. A branch of the Defense Ministry's Research and Development Directorate, Homa - Hebrew for "Fortress Wall" - was established in 1991 and given a mandate to oversee the development, procurement and integration of missile defense systems, once needed against crude Iraqi Scud missiles and now to face advanced long-range Iranian Shihabs. Herzog said he favored selling the Arrow to Israel's allies. Countries that have expressed interest include Turkey and South Korea. At the moment, however, the sale of the system is not on the table and this would only change following a joint decision by Israel and the US. "If it would be possible to sell the system, I would be in favor," he said. "But this is a government decision that needs to be made by Israel together with the United States." Discussing the Second Lebanon War, Herzog said a missile defense system that was effective against the short-range Katyusha - close to 4,000 struck northern Israel - could have changed the outcome in Israel's favor. "Active protection can dramatically reduce the number of casualties," he said, adding that this would also provide the government with improved "diplomatic maneuverability." Such a system also serves as a deterrent. "If someone thinks that a large percentage of his missiles will be intercepted, he will think twice before attacking," Herzog said. "But, it is nice to have THAAD and Patriots all over. Can you ever have too much insurance?" |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #7 just keep giving those israelis money and they keep upgrading while keeping us apprised of the problems in the ME I once attended a talk by Israel's Defense Minister during Desert Storm where he described how Israeli and American engineers upgraded the Patriot missiles during the war - the foundations of the Arrow. They had teams up on rooftops in Tel Aviv adjusting their algorithms in near realtime as the Scuds were incoming. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-03-30 13:17 |
| #6 just keep giving those israelis money and they keep upgrading while keeping us apprised of the problems in the ME |
| Posted by: Thrineque Black7017 2007-03-30 09:03 |
| #5 Icerigger, Yes. Since blast and thermal effects are largely wasted in space, the main kill mechanism for ABM warheads would have been hard X-rays or neutrons. Research into how to optimize these effects started in the 1950s as part of the ABM program and led eventually to "enhanced radiation" warheads, the so-called neutron bomb. Interestingly enough, Ariel Sharon apparently once let it slip that Israel has ER warheads. In an outburst at a 2002 news conference, he declared that Israel would "sterilize western Iraq with neutron bombs" if the Saddam regime dared to use WMD against Israel. All attempts to follow up were ignored. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2007-03-30 07:58 |
| #4 Atomic. Wasn't that the proposed original use of the Neutron Bomb? |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-03-30 07:11 |
| #3 I have suspected for some time that at least some of Israel's Arrows have nuclear warheads. Nuclear warheads were used on the US Safeguard system and its Soviet counterpart during the early 70s. Some Nike Hercules SAMs also had nukes and this was considered to have a capability against short and medium range ballistic missiles in Europe and South Korea. The nuclear warhead greatly simplifies the manifold problems of intercepting a ballistic missile. This is why the early ABMs, from the late 50s onward, all had nuclear warheads. Given the technology of the time, there was simply no other workable option. A low yield warhead exploded in space or in the high atmosphere is certainly better than a big one on the ground. EMP effects are a serious consideration, but (like most things nuclear) probably not as serious as the popular imagination makes them. We have many real examples of EMP effects, from nuclear tests before 1963. The only one to produce significant effects on civilian systems was the Starfish Prime (scroll to 9 July 1962) shot in the South Pacific. This interrupted radio broadcasts, blew out street lights, and threw breakers in Hawaii, 800 miles away. Starfish Prime was a space detonation and involved a 1.4 megaton warhead, many times larger than what Arrow would need. It is just speculation, of course, but this could well be the reason for Israel's confidence in the system. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2007-03-30 01:52 |
| #2 Iran and Syria, Herzog said, were investing unprecedented amounts of money in long-range ballistic missile capabilities - with the help of North Korea - and had all but given up building modern air forces. Sounds like military suicide to me. Kind of like trying to use a deer rifle for home protection. This sort of crap probably makes Israel pretty jumpy, given that their enemies are focused only upon killing them and not even on defending their own nations. We really need to instigate regime change throughout the entire MME (Muslim Middle East). There's just no way to trust any of these Arab and Persian loonies. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-30 01:01 |
| #1 Smells like they want to reassure their people that they can handle the Iranian missile threat. I hope we have lots of these guarding the Green Zone. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2007-03-30 00:29 |