Israel’s Active Defenses: Tactical Success with Strategic Implications: Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, JINSA, Aug. 10, 2016— Over the course of its history, Israel has faced a series of attempts to uproot the Jewish people from its land, including terrorism and massive conventional armies.
What New F-35 Jets Mean For Israel’s Air Force: Ben Caspit, Al-Monitor, Aug. 3, 2016— On July 26, Israeli history was made in Dallas, Texas, when “Israeli” fighter aircraft model F-35, “Stealth,” took off on its maiden flight and successfully passed an examination of its overall system.
The Future of Maneuvering Robotics: Amir Rapaport, Israel Defense, Aug. 11, 2016— Col. (res.) Boaz Cohen cannot hide his enthusiasm…
Time to Walk Away From US Aid: Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post, July 28, 2016— On Monday, acting head of the National Security Council Yaakov Nagel will sit down with his US counterpart, Susan Rice, and try to conclude negotiations about a new, multi-year defense assistance package.
How Does the IDF Deal With the "Intifada of the Individuals"?: Israel Defense, Aug. 7, 2016
Defense Ministry: Breakdown of the F-35 deal: Arutz Sheva, Aug. 14, 2016
Cutting-Edge New IDF Tank is "A Gamechanger": Ariella Mendlowitz Breaking Israel News, July 24, 2016
Urgent Israeli Navy Order for New US Coastal Craft: Debka, Aug. 11, 2016
TACTICAL SUCCESS WITH STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror
JINSA, Aug. 10, 2016
Over the course of its history, Israel has faced a series of attempts to uproot the Jewish people from its land, including terrorism and massive conventional armies. Today the main threat comes from thousands of rockets and missiles in the hands primarily of Hezbollah, Hamas and their patron Iran. Israel’s development of missile defenses to counter this threat is a technological triumph, but also creates a set of strategic dilemmas. Because these defenses can reduce its own casualties almost to zero, how can Israel justify self-defense against rocket and missile attacks when its enemies launch these weapons behind human shields? This has real implications for Israel’s deterrence against adversaries like Hezbollah and Hamas.
The first challenge, which began before the establishment of the state, was a civilian terror campaign. This campaign took various forms, but overall, consisted of a series of waves of terror that began with the arrival of the first Zionist immigrants at the end of the 19th century, continued through the attacks of 1921 and 1936, and the fierce battles held between the U.N. resolution on partition in November 1947 and the invasion of the Arab armies on May 15, 1948. After the establishment of the state, the terror campaign was less coordinated, lasting up until the first terror attack conducted by an organized movement, Fatah, in 1965. The waves of terror have continued with varying levels of intensity up to today, most recently in the form of “lone wolf attacks” with guns or knives.
The second challenge, interstate warfare, began with the end of the British Mandate, when the armies of seven Arab countries invaded the nascent Israel. These rounds of warfare continued over a 25-year period, with the last war against regular armies having taken place in 1973. Throughout the years since, up until the US invasion of Iraq and the Arab Spring, Israel was surrounded by millions of troops, tens of thousands of artillery pieces, thousands of tanks, and many hundreds of warplanes. Israel handed the Arab armies a series of resounding defeats on the battlefield, and thus wars of this kind became less attractive to Arab states.
The third, contemporary challenge is rooted in the failures of the civilian terror campaign and regular Arab armies against Israel. Now, Israel’s opponents instead invested immense resources in large-scale firepower based on rockets and missiles. Following the Arab Spring, and the removal of the Syrian army as a threat to Israel, non-state combatant organizations-mainly Hezbollah, but also Hamas-have constructed most of their force around this type of firepower. Today, Israel’s civilian population is threatened by some 120,000 rockets and missiles. Most of them-over 100,000-are held by Hezbollah in Lebanon, while up to 5,000 rockets are deployed in Gaza by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The remainder consist of several hundred ballistic missiles in Iran, and several hundred rockets held by Islamic State in Syria and the Sinai Peninsula.
Israel has invested significant efforts in shifting the balance of power against missiles and rockets. While all the rockets fired by Hezbollah in 2006 toward Israeli population centers found their targets; in 2014, 90 percent of the rockets fired by Hamas toward Israeli civilian targets, which Israel decided to defend, were intercepted by the Iron Dome active defense system. This represents a revolution in Israel’s ability to defend itself against the main threat to its armed forces and to its civilian and military home front. This is a first-rate technological achievement, which, together with the Arrow 2 system, provides Israel with a good level of defense. With the completion of the David’s Sling system within the coming year, and of the Arrow 3 system within the next two years, Israel will be even better protected. We owe a great debt to American aid; but this success is founded on Israeli genius, originality, creativity, and of course a large-scale Israeli financial investment. This is an expensive project, at around $7-10 billion, in addition to the high-quality personnel required for the new defensive array.
Due to the drastic reduction in the number of casualties and the extent of destruction caused to Israel, active defense reduces the amount of pressure on Israeli leaders to wipe out enemy rocket and missile capabilities, and to do so as quickly as possible. Simply put, the success of Iron Dome has saved the lives of many of Israelis and much more of the Palestinians, because it has allowed the Israeli government and the IDF to be far more circumspect in the use of firepower. However, this success also brings with it some fundamental problems at the strategic policy level.
First, given that the number of interceptors is limited, where should the defense system be activated, and where should rockets “be allowed to fall” within Israel? This is a difficult question of priorities. Is it more important, in these kinds of operations, to protect the civilian population, or to protect the armed forces and military infrastructure so that the fight against the enemy can continue? It is clear that Hezbollah’s main goal is to harm as many civilians as possible. It is necessary to take into account the pressure that can be expected from the civilian home front to defend them, but it is also clear that only the armed forces can shorten the war and strike at Hezbollah’s launching capabilities. This creates very difficult trade-offs: where should the interceptors be allotted-to defend civilians, or to defend various elements of the military system? Should an attack on IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv be prevented, at the cost of a missile being allowed to hit the Bavli neighborhood a mile or two north of there? Second, what are the implications of a reduced number of casualties on Israel’s home front? This being the case, what would be the justification for Israel to inflict large losses on the other side? What are the international implications of such a situation, including legal considerations?
I recently watched a public debate at Oxford, during which it was claimed that Israel is guilty of war crimes, with one of the most vocal arguments being the ratio between civilian casualties-according to the speaker, seven Israelis killed versus 1,500 Palestinians. The truth is that while Israel defends its citizens and invests boundless efforts toward this end, Hamas intentionally sacrifices its civilians, all of whom are “human shields” as far as it is concerned. Ironically, the world (or at least the gentleman from Oxford) would like to punish Israel for this. Both sides are successful in their efforts: Israel acts legally, and saves its civilians; Hamas acts illegally, yet the end result is that Israel’s legitimacy is damaged. The irony would only be increased should a case be brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice, with any accusation of disproportionate use of force being essentially based on Israel’s very success in defending its own citizens. This was not the intention of the authors of the relevant international conventions…
[To Read the Full Article Click the Following Link—Ed.]
WHAT NEW F-35 JETS MEAN FOR ISRAEL’S AIR FORCE
Ben Caspit
Al-Monitor, Aug. 3, 2016
On July 26, Israeli history was made in Dallas, Texas, when “Israeli” fighter aircraft model F-35, “Stealth,” took off on its maiden flight and successfully passed an examination of its overall system. The traditional rollout ceremony of the aircraft had been held June 22 with the participation of Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. The arrival of the first planes to Israel is planned for December. The Israeli air force will be the first air force outside the United States with an operational Stealth squadron. In the United States, the Navy has already made the F-35 serviceable and announced its Initial Operating Capability status. The US Air Force will reach this same milestone in the near future.
The timing of the arrival of the Stealth aircraft to Israel is especially auspicious. A high-level Israeli military figure told Al-Monitor last week on condition of anonymity, “Batteries of surface-to-air S-300 missiles produced by Russia have already reached Iran.” He added, “Although they are not yet operational, we expect them to become operational in the near future.” The arrival of the F-35 to Israel — simultaneously with the supply of S-300 missiles from Russia to Iran — preserves Israel’s qualitative edge over Middle East skies. “In most cases, the F-35 is able to elude the radar of the S-300,” a high-placed military source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “This is a big challenge for us, but we are up to it. The Stealth [aircraft] was built for exactly this purpose and will give us freedom of movement even against this new development.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in general and the air force in particular are more concerned with the possibility that some of the S-300s — missiles that cover a territory of more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) each — will find their way from Iran to Syria or Lebanon. “Such a scenario would pose a major strategic change for us,” said a senior Israeli military source on condition of anonymity. He told Al-Monitor, “We will do everything possible to avert this.” There is also the worry that the Iranians will learn the system, try to produce it by themselves and then transfer the know-how to Hezbollah or Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Israel is hoping that this will not happen.
One way or another, the Israeli air force is waiting impatiently and excitedly for the new Stealth aircraft. The fierce debate that was held surrounding the capabilities of the aircraft and were detailed in an earlier article in Al-Monitor have come to an end. “This plane will upgrade the entire air force by a complete technological generation,” said a senior IDF source. He told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “This is a transition from fourth-generation fighter jets to fifth-generation, and even more than that. Missions that we carried out to date with a double-digit number of planes will be able to be executed with a low single-digit number of planes.”
The reason is simple: “When you embark on an important strategic bombardment,” a senior Israeli military source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “you need aircraft that will carry out the shelling, other planes to protect the first ones from interception and yet other planes to provide protection from surface-to-air missiles [SAM]. But the F-35 carries out all these tasks by itself, with tremendous effectiveness. It has small radar footprint and is not threatened by most SAMs. It is a totally different world.” Some high-ranking Israeli air force members have already flown simulation flights on the sophisticated F-35 simulator system. “We are in a completely different league,” one of them told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “The flight included dogfights against an octet of advanced, non-F-35 aircraft, and the Stealth [aircraft] won hands down.”
Conversations with their counterparts in the US Air Force also greatly encouraged the Israeli pilots. According to the Israelis, it was impossible to wipe the smiles off the faces of the Americans after a week of trial runs of the Stealth jets at a US Air Force base. The data was excellent, all the planes were fit for service and available, the hits were good and the results were perfect. The expression “almost too good to be true” exactly describes the Israeli air force’s view of the Stealth aircraft. The Israeli air force assessment is that the Stealth planes not only will bring new capabilities, but will also “pull” all the other air force planes forward and bump the entire corps up. The reason: the visual range ability of the Stealth. These aircraft fly within formations and carry a system that enables each pilot to see the entire picture of the surrounding arena from his pilot’s booth. Other planes that are not F-35s can also be included in the F-35 system, thus sharing its tremendous advantages. In this way, the capabilities of hundreds of F-15s and F-16s already owned by the Israeli air force can undergo great improvement, too…
[To Read the Full Article Click the Following Link—Ed.]
THE FUTURE OF MANEUVERING ROBOTICS
Amir Rapaport
Israel Defense, Aug. 11, 2016
Col. (res.) Boaz Cohen cannot hide his enthusiasm, standing by one of the innovations Elbit Systems showcased at the Eurosatory exhibition in Paris in June 2016: a system enabling the crew to fight out of their armored combat vehicle with their hatches closed, while still receiving an almost complete picture of their surroundings, as if they were fighting with their heads outside the turret. In addition to the picture of the immediate surroundings around the tank or APC, the system continuously provides relevant information regarding the battlefield.
The IronVision helmet – a "transparent turret" of sorts – was developed by Elbit Systems in view of the way the battlefield has changed: massive armor-versus-armor battles conducted over expansive areas, as we all remember from the past, have evolved into armored platforms maneuvering in dense urban areas, where the enemy might pop up suddenly on the eighth floor of a nearby building or from behind, not only from the front. The system consists of a network of cameras that cover a 270-degree sector around the platform, horizontally and vertically, during the day and night. A computer integrates the various images and assembles the reality afresh for the platform commander or driver. The image may be viewed using specialized eyepieces and a visor attached to the front part of the user's helmet. The information from the battlefield is transferred through the command and control infrastructure and displayed on the helmet visor just like the smart helmets of fighter pilots Elbit had invented (and currently supplies for the F-35 future fighter).
Is there a future for smart helmets in land warfare (or in civilian ground applications)? For the exhibition in Paris, Elbit built a compartment simulating an armored vehicle with the hatches closed. To illustrate this unusual experience: when the driver or commander shift their gaze in a certain direction, the image of the world outside the vehicle moves along with them. If the crewmen identify a target on the ground, they can lock onto it using a joystick and then launch munitions at it – almost like a computer game.
"The new system provides a solution to an acute operational problem," says Boaz Cohen, VP Land Systems. "In many combat zones, if you pop your head out of the tank – you will be shot by a sniper. Today, combat operations take place in a highly complex environment. In the past, as soldiers, we fought less in closed, dense areas and much more in open areas. Today we fight in dense areas and in three dimensions, and you cannot do it with your head inside the hull, using only the periscope of the past (the old optical system that provided an image of the situation outside the platform but covered only a very narrow field of view). Even if you had a thousand periscopes surrounding you, eventually you would have seen the outside world through a straw.
"Using the new system, on the other hand, you get to see an open-wide space, the entire area – not through a sight. On top of the image, the command and control system adds icons and data that reflect the battle picture. In fact, you receive the C2 picture right on your helmet. You can enslave the weapon system you want to employ – a remotely controlled weapon station, a gun or any other weapon – to your helmet. Through this system, we are offering an innovative solution to a difficult operational problem. We do the same thing in the field of artillery guns and mortars." Before addressing the category of artillery guns and mortars, it is important to note that Boaz Cohen possesses operational experience that dates back to the days of the periscope: he rose through the ranks of the IDF Armored Corps, where he advanced from a crewman to the position of Senior Staff Officer in charge of Operations, Planning & Instruction at IDF Northern Command during the Second Lebanon War, ten years ago. The exclusive interview with Cohen, in his present senior capacity at Elbit Systems, was conducted during the Eurosatory 2016 exhibition.
Let's talk about the world of mortars. What is the operational solution you referred to? According to Cohen, the solution in question is the SPEAR mortar system – a 120mm mortar with significantly reduced recoil, unveiled for the first time about a month prior to the Eurosatory exhibition at the International Fire Conference produced by the IDF Artillerymen Association and Israel Defense. "This mortar system is an innovative solution, as in the past it had a recoil of 120 tons. We reduced it to 35 tons and now we have reduced it further to less than 10 tons, which enables you to mount this mortar on a standard 4×4 vehicle and fire it directly off that vehicle.
"What is the operational problem it solves? When you want highly mobile special operations forces that you can drop deep inside enemy territory for prompt action – that is the solution. You cannot accomplish that using the mortar currently mounted on the M-113 APCs (the older KESHET mortar system). What you want is an agile force, capable of traveling from one point to another very fast, for example – exit a helicopter and promptly start producing accurate fire. "So far, no one has been able to provide a 'pocket artillery' system that is so readily available, mobile and accurate, and when you combine it with precision munitions, it catapults the entire solution one step forward."…
[To Read the Full Article Click the Following Link—Ed.]
Caroline Glick
Jerusalem Post, July 28, 2016
On Monday, acting head of the National Security Council Yaakov Nagel will sit down with his US counterpart, Susan Rice, and try to conclude negotiations about a new, multi-year defense assistance package. We must all hope that he fails. No clear Israeli interest will be advanced by concluding the aid deal presently on the table. Indeed, the deal now being discussed will cause Israel massive, long-term economic and strategic damage. This is true for a number of reasons.
First, there is the issue of the deal’s impact on Israel’s military industries, which are the backbone of Israel’s strategic independence. Under the current defense package, which is set to expire next year, a quarter of the US aid Israel receives is converted to shekels and spent domestically. Reportedly, the deal now under negotiation will bar Israel from using any of the funds domestically. The implications for our military industries are dire. Not only will thousands of Israelis lose their jobs. Israel’s capacity to develop its own weapons systems will be dangerously diminished.
Then there is the problem of joint projects. Today, Israel receives additional US funds to develop joint projects, including the Iron Dome and David’s Sling short range missile and rocket defense programs. These programs were undertaken in response to threats that weren’t foreseen when the current deal was negotiated a decade ago. According to reports, the deal now being negotiated denies Israel and the US the ability to fund jointly new projects or to provide supplemental funding for existing projects. All funding for all projects will be covered by the lump sum that is currently being negotiated. Not only does this preclude new projects, it prevents Congress from exercising oversight over administration funding of existing joint projects with Israel. President Barack Obama has consistently tried to slash funding of missile defense programs, only to be overridden by Congress. Under the deal now on the table, Congress will be denied the power to override a hostile administration.
Given the obvious problems with the aid program currently being proposed by the Obama administration, there’s little wonder that until now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly stated that if necessary, Israel is ready to wait for the next administration. Some argue that Netanyahu’s apparent newfound interest in concluding negotiations on Obama’s terms owes to his fear that this is the best offer Israel is likely to get. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for various reasons, it is argued, will be less likely to offer significant increases in US military assistance. Assuming this is accurate, the question becomes whether Israel has an interest in the assistance at all.
And so we come to the F-35. For Israel, to a significant degree, the aid package on offer is about the F-35, the US’s fifth generation fighter, otherwise known as the Joint Strike Fighter. Last month Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and IAF Chief of Staff Brig.-Gen Tal Kelman flew to Texas to ceremonially “take possession” of Israel’s first two F-35s. Both aircraft are set to be delivered to Israel in December. To date, the IAF has purchased 33 F-35s – all with US aid money. The IAF wants to purchase a total of 75 F-35s, which are supposed to replace the F-16s and the F-15s that the IAF currently fields. As Liberman made clear during his visit, whether Israel purchases them or not is entirely dependent on the aid deal. We should not take them. We should walk away. And we should walk away even if we receive nothing in exchange for the planes we reject.
The F-35 is a disaster of epic proportions, for the US first and foremost. If Israel agrees to base its next generation fighters on the F-35, it will be a disaster for us as well. Although it is late in the game, we need to cut our losses. To date, the F-35 has cost the US $400 billion. That is twice what it was supposed to cost. The project is already four years behind schedule and still in development. It won’t be operational until May 2018 – at the earliest. The F-35 is a jet that was developed by a committee and tasked with doing everything. So it isn’t surprising that it doesn’t work. In February, J. Michael Gilmore, the director of the Pentagon’s Operational Test and Evaluation office, submitted a scathing report to Congress on the F-35 program…
[To Read the Full Article Click the Following Link—Ed.]
How Does the IDF Deal With the "Intifada of the Individuals"?: Israel Defense, Aug. 7, 2016—The IDF has been bolstering its counter-terror strategy with an increase of weapons seizures and the shutdown of weapon manufacturing facilities; 27 weapon-manufacturing machines and over 235 guns have been seized. Last week alone, security forces seized six machines used to build guns in Nablus and Ramallah.
Defense Ministry: Breakdown of the F-35 deal: Arutz Sheva, Aug. 14, 2016—The Ministry of Defense, continuing its countdown to the December 2016 arrival of Israel's first F-35s, last week completed its semi-annual data summary.
Cutting-Edge New IDF Tank is "A Gamechanger": Ariella Mendlowitz Breaking Israel News, July 24, 2016—The Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) Battalion 82 recently decided to drop its decades-old Merkava MK 2 tanks and launched into a new world of military technology by adopting the cutting edge Merkava MK 4 tanks in their place, reported The Jerusalem Post. A part of the 7 Armored Brigade, Battalion 82 was formed prior to Israel’s War of Independence in 1948 and has since taken part in each of Israel’s wars, according to Major Itamar Michaeli, the battalion’s deputy commander.
Urgent Israeli Navy Order for New US Coastal Craft: Debka, Aug. 11, 2016—The Mediterranean is fast filling up with bigger and more sophisticated warships than ever before, leaving the Israeli Navy lagging behind and short of the new kind of vessels needed to meet the changing challenges to its shores and marine assets, notably from seaborne terror.
