World Tribune.com

Israel call defenses against Iraqi missiles adequate

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Friday, September 13, 2002

TEL AVIV Ñ Israel, playing down the Iraqi missile threat, doesn't envision deploying additional Patriot anti-missile batteries from the United States.

Israeli officials said the missile defense network of Arrow-2 and PAC-2 batteries is regarded as sufficient to defend against any Iraqi missile strike. The officials said the addition of PAC-2 batteries would not increase Israel's missile defense capabilities.

"We are well-equipped with what we have now," Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said on Wednesday.

Ben-Eliezer told a conference of the Herzliya-based International Policy Institute of Counter-Terrorism that Israel will deploy two Arrow-2 batteries. One battery south of Tel Aviv has been operational and the military is preparing a second Arrow-2 site near the northern city of Hadera.

Israel is said to have deployed PAC-2 batteries around such cities as Arad, Eilat, Haifa and Tel Aviv. The batteries are said to be far more effective in targeting enemy ballistic missiles than in 1991 Gulf war, with the capability to distinguish between the warhead and other portions of the missile.

Ben-Eliezer said Iraq's missile capabilities are not nearly as significant as during the 1991 Gulf war. He said the United States would seek to destroy Iraqi Al Hussein missile launchers deployed in western Iraq.

"We must not exaggerate the Iraqi threat," Ben-Eliezer said. "If Iraq is looking to hit us, they first must pass the American obstacle. But the most important point is that Israel is better prepared than ever for such a threat."

Officials said the Defense Ministry has determined that the PAC-2 would provide limited missile defense capability. They said the ministry would consider an improved Patriot missile known as the PAC-2 Guided Enhancement Missile, or GEM. The U.S. Army's Guided Enhancement Missile program called for interim engineering improvement to the PAC-2 and called for 345 such missiles for the service. The missile is produced by Raytheon Electronic Systems, which rolled out its first GEM missile in 1995.

Last year, the Pentagon awarded Raytheon a $53 million contract to supply upgrade kits for the Patriot radar. The upgrade was said to double the power of the Patriot radar and improve its capability for target discrimination.

The GEM missile, deployed by the U.S. Army, is fired from the PAC-2 launcher but is said to have improved interception capability. The PAC-2 was used during the 1991 Gulf war.

"If we are talking about improved Patriots, then we will consider them." Ben-Eliezer said.

A General Accounting Office report asserted that GEM was inadequate to intercept unspecified short-range ballistic missiles and could not replace the more advanced PAC-3 anti-missile system. The report said the U.S. Defense Department urged for the production of the PAC-3, development of which has been marred by a series of unsuccessful tests.

"DOD [Department of Defense] justified buying PAC-3 because GEM interceptors were not good enough," the 1995 GAO report said. "DOD said that although the PAC-2 and GEM interceptors cannot enforce the same defensive zone as the PAC-3 interceptor, operational commanders will use them to destroy tactical ballistic missiles against which they have a high probability of kill."

Print this Article Print this Article Email this article Email this article Subscribe to this Feature Free Headline Alerts
Google
Search Worldwide Web Search WorldTribune.com Search WorldTrib Archives

See current edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com

Return to World Tribune.com Front Cover