WarSclerotic

IAF strikes terror suspect in Gaza, injuring 3 | The Times of Israel.

Suspected terror operative critically wounded in raid on motrocycle, which comes after spate of rocket attacks on Israel

By Times of Israel staff January 19, 2014, 10:19 am

A Palestinian tries to extinguish a fire after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, in 2012. (photo credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Israel plans laser interceptor ‘Iron Beam’ for short-range rockets | JPost | Israel News.

By REUTERS

01/19/2014 13:40

The system is designed to deal with threats that fly on too small a trajectory to be engaged efficiently by Iron Dome.

Israel plans to deploy a new missile shield known as “Iron Beam” next year which would use a laser to blow up short-range rockets and mortar bombs, a defense industry official said on Sunday.

The system is designed to deal with threats that fly on too small a trajectory to be engaged efficiently by Iron Dome, the Israeli interceptor credited with an 80 percent success rate against rockets fired by Palestinian militants.

Both shields are manufactured by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. While Iron Dome launches radar-guided interceptor rockets, Iron Beam’s laser will super-heat the warheads of shells with ranges of up to 7 km (4.5 miles).

Rafael said Iron Dome would be formally unveiled at next month’s Singapore Air Show. The Israeli military declined to discuss deployment plans.

Iron Dome is complemented by Arrow II, an Israeli interceptor designed to shoot down ballistic missiles at atmospheric heights. Israel plans to integrate them with the more powerful rocket interceptors Arrow III and David’s Sling, both of which are still in their testing phases.

The United States has extensively underwritten the projects, seeing them as a means of reassuring its Middle East ally as instability rocks the region.

The industry official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters Iron Beam would form the “fifth layer” of integrated missile defense.

The Next Missile Frigate of the IDF Navy.

The next missile frigate of the IDF Navy may come from Germany. The electronic warfare and weapon systems will be Israeli made

IsraelDefense

Advanced negotiations are under way between Israel and Germany regarding the procurement of 2-4 new missile frigates that would be assigned to defend, among other things, the offshore gas drilling rigs in the Mediterranean.

Israeli defense industry officials are demanding that Germany be required to make offset purchases in Israel if the new missile frigate deal is approved.

The German deal appears to be materializing after the IDF Navy had examined several vessel types around the world in an effort to select its next missile frigate. One of the options examined was a vessel made by the Hyundai shipyards in South Korea. The new vessel will have a displacement of about 1,300 tons, like the largest vessels currently in service in the IDF Navy – the Sa’ar-5 missiles frigates, manufactured by Ingalls Shipbuilding in the USA.

With the beginning of the quest for a vessel of this size, the IDF Navy had abandoned its previous plans of acquiring vessels with a displacement of 2,000 tons minimum. The IDF Navy had originally intended to acquire vessels manufactured by Lockheed-Martin in the context of Project LCS (Littoral Combat Ship), but negotiations were discontinued owing to the reduction in the scope of the US project, which led to a substantial increase in the cost of each vessel.

Subsequently, the IDF Navy examined the possibility of having a vessel of a similar size built by Israel Shipyards, based on the blueprints of the German Meko-100 vessel design, but this option was rejected, too. Nevertheless, the IDF Navy will require a vessel with a displacement of 1,300 tons and special characteristics that would enable it to carry the latest weapon systems used by the Navy: the Barak-8 surface-to-surface missile system and a new anti-aircraft system.

The procurement of the new missile frigates is a part of a renewal process the IDF Navy is undergoing after its latest surface vessels, the Sa’ar-5 frigates, have reached their mid-life point – they are almost 20 years old, on average.

Originally, the IDF Navy should have initiated the procurement of the new missile frigates in the context of the previous multi-year plan, and funds had been allocated for this purpose as part of that plan, but owing to the cancellation of the LCS option, the process never materialized.

Now the intention of the IDF is to finance the procurement of the new vessels by a dedicated budget allocated by the government outside the framework of the normal defense budget, in order to secure the offshore gas drilling rigs. The procurement plan notwithstanding, the total number of missile frigates in the IDF Navy is expected to decrease during the next five-year period, owing to the obsolescence of the present vessels, some of which are to be decommissioned.

If the new vessels are purchased from Germany, some parts of the work may be performed at Israel Shipyards. The electronic warfare systems and weapon systems fitted to the new vessels will be mostly Israeli-made systems.

Rocket fired from Gaza explodes in southern Israel | The Times of Israel.

( Rockets have picked up again after a year’s respite.  I hope we don’t wait for thousands again before doing something. – JW )

No injuries or damage; Israeli planes subsequently seen over Gaza, and explosions reported

By Times of Israel staff January 18, 2014, 11:42 pm