TEL AVIV — Israel is urgently pooling its missile defense assets to
defend against Hizbullah medium-range rockets as the frequency of attacks continues to increase.
Officials acknowledged an increase in rocket strikes despite heavy air
attacks on Hizbullah facilities and weapons convoys. They said more than 130
Hizbullah rockets were fired on Tuesday, compared to 90 on July 17.
The Defense Ministry has been discussing the prospect of linking
existing systems to intercept Iranian-origin medium-range rockets fired by
Hizbullah over the last week. Officials said the effort was designed to link
several tactical systems into a regional defense umbrella.
"We know we don't have an effective solution to short-range rockets," an
official said. "But we think we could link systems to provide some
protection against medium-range rockets."
Officials said one prospect was the use of the Barak-1 sea-based
anti-missile system to protect strategic facilities along the northern
Israeli coast. They said the Barak-1, with a range of 10 kilometers, could
be used to intercept medium-range missiles fired toward such sites as
Haifa's naval base, refinery and petrochemical facility.
Israel has completed the Barak-2, with a range of 16 kilometers. IAI has
also developed a land-based Barak missile defense system.
"Urgent efforts are being made to use various relevant systems to
counter the rockets," Defense Ministry spokeswoman Rachel Ashkenazi said.
"The systems are in place and in use."
Hizbullah resumed rocket fire on Haifa and other northern Israeli
communities on Wednesday. At the same time, a Hizbullah ground force
attacked Israeli border positions and Lebanese sources reported that at
least two Israelis were killed.
The Israel Air Force has invested much of its effort in destroying
Hizbullah's medium-range rocket capability. On Tuesday, Israeli fighter-jets
attacked four trucks laden with weapons that entered Lebanon from Syria.
"Several trucks with weapons that traveled from Syria to Lebanon were
destroyed," Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, commander of the military's Operations
Directorate, said.
Officials said 15 medium-range rockets, including the Zelzal-1, were
destroyed. The Zelzal-1 was said to have a range of about 150 kilometers and
a payload of 600 kilograms.
"We have already destroyed around 50 percent of Hizbullah's rockets and
missiles," Brig. Gen. Alon Friedman, a senior air force officer, said. "Our
air force will continue attacks to stop supplies from Syria from reaching
Hizbullah."
The Barak-1 system has been deployed on the Israel Navy's fleet of
Saar-5 and Saar-4.5 missile boats. On July 14, a Saar-5 vessel was struck by
a Chinese-origin C-802 cruise missile off the Lebanese coast.
Officials said the Barak-1 system did not detect the Iranian-produced
C-802 because of the navy's failure to enter data regarding such a missile.
They said Israeli intelligence was unaware that Hizbullah had procured the
C-802.
The Defense Ministry has been discussing the deployment of much of the
navy's fleet of Saar-5 and Saar-4.5 vessels in Haifa bay to protect
strategic facilities in the city. The navy has three Saar-5s and six
Hetz-class Saar 4.5 vessels. Another five older Aliya-class Saar-4.5 vessels
do not have the missile defense system.
"The Barak is missile is meant to defend against sea-to-sea missiles and
could defend against air weapons," Rear Adm. Noam Feig, head of the navy's
surface vessel division, said.
Under the proposal, first reported by the Israeli daily Haaretz, the
Barak-1 systems would be linked to the Green Pine long-range radar. The
Green Pine, manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries, was designed to
detect enemy launches for the Arrow-2 missile defense system.
Officials said the military could also use the Patriot PAC-2 to help
intercept medium-range Hizbullah rockets such as the Zelzal and Fajr-5. Over
the weekend, the military deployed a PAC-2 battery in Haifa, which so far
has not attempted to intercept Hizbullah rockets.
The Defense Ministry has been examining options to develop and procure a
system to protect against short- and medium-range rockets unable to be
intercepted by either the Arrow-2 or Patriot. In May, the ministry selected
a team of Rafael, Israel Armament Development Authority and Raytheon to
design such a system.