The United States has completed installation of a missile defense radar station in Israel that will be operated by the first permanent deployment of U.S. troops in the nation, Haaretz reported yesterday. The detachment would consist of about 120 personnel working under the U.S. European Command (see GSN, Aug. 18; Haaretz, Nov. 11).
The X-band radar would detect and track airborne targets at greater range and with better precision than current Israeli systems, thereby improving the odds of Israel’s Arrow interceptors striking incoming missile targets, Defense News reported in August. Israel is particularly concerned about Iran’s missile capabilities.
“The X-band is a welcome enhancement to target tracking, guidance and discrimination and could very well enhance the very capable detection ranges we already have in our Green Pine radar,” said an Israeli defense expert. “Once X-band locks on a target, its tracking is more precise and its resolution is greater than our own radar, and this will give us invaluable discrimination information and significantly enhanced kill probability.”
In addition to the radar, the United States has agreed to rapidly provide missile launch detection data collected from U.S. satellites, according to Defense News.
“Since they threw in [the launch warnings], it's become a whole new ball game. We're looking at a very generous gift from the United States, even if it means we have to compromise on sovereignty by having U.S. troops deployed here,” the expert said.
The radar is the same model as the system the United States erected in Japan in 2006 (see GSN, Sept. 28, 2006; Barbara Opall-Rome, Defense News, Aug. 28).