The U.S. Army's European Command deployed an early-warning radar system in Israel last week along with a 120-member support team, marking the first permanent presence in Israel of American military personnel. The system is not yet operational.
The high-powered radar system is meant to augment Israel's defenses against Iranian ground-to-ground missiles. In August, Infolive.tv reported plans by the Pentagon to deploy the radar system as part of extensive, bilateral preparations against the growing threat from Iran.
Once deployed and fully integrated, the combined U.S. and Israeli system is expected to double or even triple the range at which Israel can detect, track and ultimately defend against Iranian missiles such as the long range Shihab and Ashura class ballistic missiles.
The radar system is capable of tracking an object the size of a baseball almost 3000 miles away and would allow Israel's Arrow missile defense system to engage a Shihab 3 missile about half way through its 11 minute flight from Iran to Israel. US officials were quoted as saying that the system is capable of latching on to the incoming missile six times faster than Israel's Green Pine Radar system.
According to a recent Defense News report, the basic plan was approved in July, first by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his Israeli counterpart, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, and then by the two countries' civilian defense leaders. 09/28/08
| Title | Time | Category | Popularity |
|---|---|---|---|
Comments
radar system