At an aerospace conference on Nov. 15, Gavish and leading defense
executives and analysts asserted that Iran was converting its Scud-based
missile and rocket arsenal into precision weapons, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the effort was
facilitated by the availability of navigation and guidance systems based on
the U.S.-based Global Positioning System and Glonass, the Russian acronym
for GLObal NAvigation Satellite System.
"The enemy has achieved aerial supremacy without even having aircraft,"
Uzi Rubin, former head of the Israel Missile Defense Organization, said.
Rubin, regarded as a leading consultant on ballistic missiles, cited
Iran's new rockets, which have been exported to Hizbullah and Syria. He said
Iran's Fateh-110 rocket, with an enhanced range of 300 kilometers, has
become fully-guided.
"There is guidance from launch, maybe throughout the entire flight,"
Rubin said.
As a result, officials and analysts said, Iran's new rockets could have
a circle error of probability of up to 200 meters at a range of 90
kilometers. They said this would enable Hizbullah and Syria to strike
Israeli critical facilities with dozens rather than hundreds of rockets.
Syria was also said to have been enhancing its Scud-D ballistic missile,
tipped with a chemical warhead. Rubin said Syria, with technology from Iran
and its allies, was believed to have reduced the Scud-D's circle error of
probability from several kilometers to several hundred meters.
Rubin said Hizbullah and Syria have accumulated 13,000 missiles and
rockets that could hit targets from Israel's northern border to the southern
city of Beersheba. Of those weapons, he said, 1,500 warheads could strike
the Tel Aviv area. Hamas has also acquired rockets with a range to hit Tel
Aviv.
"This is a revolution," Rubin said.
Officials said the new Iranian capability would force Israel to revise
its missile defense doctrine. They said Israel was expected to deploy its
multi-layered system by 2015.
"The new missile threat requires a revision of doctrine, and IMDO and
the defense industries are working on this," Capt. Guy Aviram, a senior
official in IMDO, said.