IMRA Newsletter
Israel using THEL System to track Rockets from Gaza
Geostrategy-Direct, www.geostrategy-direct.com
December 28, 2004
[IMRA: Development of the laser to go with the radar was delayed for a considerable period of time because of delays in US financing that Israel opted not to circumvent by covering the delayed funding from its own budget.]
Israel's military has received and deployed an advanced radar meant to immediately detect and track the launch of mortars, artillery shells and short-range missiles.
Israeli officials said the military has received the radar of the Tactical High Energy Laser system. THEL is a U.S.-Israeli laser system designed to defend civilian communities against missile, mortar and rocket attacks. But it had not previously been deployed.
Over the past week, the THEL radar was deployed along the border with the Gaza Strip, and officials said the system tracked Kassam-class short-range missiles. The radar enabled the military to pinpoint Hamas launches for rapid Israeli counter-strikes.
The THEL radar is designed to immediately spot the firing of short-range projectiles. It is based on the much longer-range Green Pine radar, deployed as part of the Arrow-2 missile defense system. The THEL radar was developed by Israel Aircraft Industries subsidiary, Elta Electronic Systems.
"The Arrow-2 system was meant to detect missiles from 1,000 kilometers or so, and this is a much smaller radar, a quarter of the size of the Arrow," [Res.] Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Ben-Yisrael, former chief of the Defense Ministry's Research Directorate, said.
Ben-Yisrael said the THEL radar is composed of hundreds of modules that provide a comprehensive picture of a missile or mortar attack. The Green Pine radar comprises thousands of modules, which provides detection and tracking of incoming projectiles.
Israel and the United States have been developing the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser, meant to miniaturize the laser tracker for operational use. Officials said the THEL is too bulky for operational use and had remained in the United States.
The THEL radar will be deployed along either the border with Lebanon or near the Gaza Strip, sources said. Hizbullah has deployed about 15,000 rockets and short-range missiles near the Lebanese border with Israel, and Hamas gunners have been firing the Kassam-class short-range missiles from the Gaza Strip.
Officials said the THEL radar would provide the military with immediate detection of a rocket or missile launch. The average Kassam flight takes about 20 seconds.
"We have an answer to the rockets, but not in the area of interception," Ben-Yisrael said. "The flight is very short and unless there is a laser, there is nothing else to intercept this."
Officials agreed. They said the military has been working on defense and response to Palestinian short-range missiles from the Gaza Strip amid plans to withdraw from the area in September 2005.
"There are gaps and we don't have sufficient answers to trajectory weapons," National Security Council deputy director Col. Itamar He'ar said. "It takes time to develop this."