TEL AVIV – Israel's military has developed a stand-off capability to increase force protection along hostile borders.
The concept developed by the military was meant to protect Israel's new
borders in the aftermath of the planned unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza
Strip and northern West Bank by September 2005.
The plan requires a buffer
zone, electronic fence and advanced ground and air radar, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said the
edge of the buffer zone would be patrolled by an armored combat vehicle
packed with electronic sensors and radar and meant to detect activity as far
as 25 kilometers into Palestinian territory.
The Israeli military has developed the concept in cooperation with the
nation's defense industry. The industry has developed systems and platforms
meant to automatically identify hostile intruders from a distance and
facilitate a response from stand-off ground or air assets.
"This a sensor-to-shooter loop that would require maybe two to three
minutes and keep our troops from unnecessary engagements or walking into
ambushes or mine fields," a senior military officer said. "It would also
allow us to patrol the Gaza Strip and West Bank frontier with far fewer
troops."
A key element in the concept, officials said, was the maintenance of a
one-kilometer buffer zone in the eastern Gaza Strip that would be clear of
Palestinian buildings. Officials have expressed concern that the
Palestinians, financed by the international community, would begin
construction along the new border with Israel and eliminate the buffer zone.
Rafael, Israel Armament Development Authority has taken the lead in the
concept with the development of the Stalker mobile reconnaissance and
surveillance system, based on Doppler scanning radar, forward-looking
infrared sensor, communications and C4I. The Stalker, which could be
installed on either wheeled or tracked vehicles, has been deployed by
Israeli mechanized infantry units along the Lebanese frontier since 2001 and
can ensure the identification and monitoring of multiple ground targets.
The Stalker was said to be capable of automatically relaying data via
the C4I [command, control, communications, computers and intelligence]
system to ground or air assets, including a command and control center. The
commander could then decide what assets to use to eliminate the hostile
threat.
The Israeli concept has been part of the so-called low-signature
counter-insurgency warfare promoted by the General Staff. This would
enable technology to replace nearly all combat patrols along hostile borders
and ensure stand-off fire to eliminate insurgents.
Officials said stand-off strike capability would be used by Israeli
security forces to also defend against insurgency threats from the West
Bank. The military and police have sought to employ technology to
significantly reduce patrols along Israel's new security fence and wall
along the West Bank.
The state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries has sold other long-range
ground detection systems to the Israeli military. IAI has sold the Giraffe
light
observation vehicle, equipped with a Plug-in Optronic Payload, to detect
intruders at a distance of several kilometers in both day and night.
IAI's competitor, Elbit Systems, has offered a recce armored vehicle
based on the Long-Range Reconnaissance and
Observation System, or LORROS. The reconnaissance system installed on the
vehicle could scan wide areas via a telescopic mast.
Israel's Controp Precision Technologies has sold to Israel's military
the Stabilized Panoramic Intruder Detection and Recognition System, or
Spider, for what officials termed low-signature and long-range defense of
critical facilities. The Spider could be installed on either poles or ground
vehicles to automatically detect, identify and track multiple moving
targets. The passive system could also be operated to scan wide areas with
the option to zoom in for target identification and acquisition.
Many of these systems have been displayed at the military's
Low-Intensity Conflict, or LIC-2005, exhibition, which began in Tel Aviv on
Monday. Officials said the Ground Forces Command plans to increase both
procurement and deployment of stand-off detection and attack capability over
the next year.
"Many of these systems have attracted the interest of the U.S. Army,
which has encountered similar problems to ours in Afghanistan and Iraq," an
Israeli military source said. "By supplying the U.S. Army with such systems,
we could gain a lot in how to use and improve this equipment."
