TEL AVIV ø Israel has successfully demonstrated a series of advanced
military systems during the war against Palestinian insurgency groups.
Officials said the equipment included unmanned air vehicles, anti-tank
missiles and munitions, laser-targeting devices and electronic warfare
systems. They said some of these systems would not be fully deployed until
2009.
"Many of these systems were developed to counter a conventional military
threat, particularly from Syria," an official said. "Instead, we have found
ourselves testing these systems in operations against the Palestinians and
see that the equipment can be used in multiple applications."
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the Israeli military has employed what
he termed "unique measures" in the Gaza Strip, Middle East Newsline reported. Mofaz said this included new
systems and technology, but would not elaborate.
Officials said the new systems successfully demonstrated the fusion of
tactical intelligence, airborne platforms and precision-guided weapons. They
said the systems have significantly reduced the so-called sensor-to-shooter
loop, in which the military has sought to destroy a target within minutes of
its identification.
"Israel has adopted the U.S. model of a network-centric force," Col.
Didi Ben Yoash, a former senior Defense Ministry official, said. "The use of
network-centric is meant to achieve firepower superiority."
The new systems have been tested separately and within a network in both
battlefield and laboratory environments. This week, the Ground Forces
Command staged a company-level urban warfare simulation to demonstrate the
military's network-centric capability.
Officials said one of the goals of the exercise ø held at Rafael,
Israel Armament Development Authority and scheduled to end on Thursday ø
sought to overcome limitations on bandwidth communications, a key obstacle
to network-centric systems. They said the military planned to conduct a
folo-up exercise in February 2005.
Israel invests about $700 million a year in defense research and
development, focusing on systems meant to bolster firepower, targeting
capability and intelligence, officials said. At a recent conference by the
military's C4I directorate, a senior officer disclosed a range of new
capabilities developed for both urban and conventional warfare.
Col. Ehud Gal, a former senior official in the Defense Ministry, said
Israel has tested a range of new UAVs. Gal, who served as a deputy science
chief in the ministry's Defense Research Directorate, said the platforms
included micro and combat UAVs.
"We tested a micro-UAV equipped with a camera that went around the room
and out the window," Gal told the C4I conference on May 18.
Gal said the military has demonstrated Israeli UAV capability to detect,
track and destroy ground vehicles. Gal said the Israeli combat UAV effort
was based on the Harpy, an unmanned platform meant to destroy radars and
bunkers. He said the Harpy was introduced in the late 1980s but kept under
wraps until 1999.
Other capabilities disclosed in the conference were the development of a
30-kilogram micro-satellite and a 155 mm artillery shell that could split
into four autonomous warheads. Officers also told of a system that could
disrupt and deceive enemy GPS.
"The future battlefield is becoming empty," Gal said. "If you are there,
you are destroyed. The only options are stealth or autonomous systems."