From the Israel Archives |
Coverage of the Events since October 2000
Hände weg von Israel und Islam!
After U.S.-Prompted Delay, Israel Tests Missile
2005-03-08
www.defensenews.com/story.php? F=699930&C=mideast
Israel successfully test-fired its Long Range Artillery (LORA) missile March 3, two days after the presence of U.S. spy planes in the so-called safety zone above the Mediterranean Sea prompted officials to delay the test.
In interviews here, Israeli defense and industry sources said the LORA scored a dead-on hit of a sea-based target some 200 kilometers from the launch site on Israel's coast. The test marked the third success out of four attempts, and demonstrated a range more than double the roughly 80 kilometers achieved in earlier tests.
Similar in performance to the U.S.-produced Army Tactical Missile System and the U.S. Navy Standard missile, LORA is a deep-strike, satellite-guided, inertially navigated precision missile for use against stationary or semi-fixed targets. The missile is solid-fueled, with a takeoff weight of about 1,230 kilograms, including a 570-kilogram warhead, and is developed by the MLM Division of government-owned Israel Aircraft Industries.
"It was an excellent performance, and we're all very proud . but we still don't understand what the Americans were doing in that closed area that forced cancellation of the earlier test," an Israeli defense official said.
According to the official, Israel's Ministry of Defense secured permission from supervisory authorities for a three-hour closure of airspace and territorial waters on the morning of March 1. As MoD and industry technicians, accompanied by top brass from the Israel Navy, Ground Forces and Air Force, prepared for countdown to launch, a U.S. Navy P-3 maritime patrol aircraft entered the area and remained on station, prompting agitation in the launch control room.
The presence of the P-3, followed by the arrival of a high-flying U.S. Air Force U-2, triggered high-level dialogue between Israel's defense establishment and the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Sixth Fleet in Naples, Italy.
"Requests were made repeatedly to get those planes to move from the area. Meanwhile, one 30-minute delay was followed by another 30-minute delay and then some more waiting until we got to the point where we had to shut down the test," an Israeli source said.
In a March 3 interview, an Israeli military officer said he did not know why the U.S. military interfered in the test, but insisted that whatever the reason, it wasn't worth straining the usually superb cooperation and coordination Israel enjoys with the Sixth Fleet.
"I told my people it was worth the added cost and aggravation, to just go ahead and reschedule the event," the senior officer said. "I wouldn't want to think this was done intentionally . There must have been a good reason for those aircraft to be there at that time."
Another senior Israeli military official, however, suggested the U.S. spy planes were interested in capturing data on the test, and were not deployed in that specific area at that specific time for regional strategic intelligence-gathering missions.
"The Americans are curious. They wanted to watch," the senior official said.
Paul Patin, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy here, declined comment on the matter. Similarly, IAI and Israel's MoD declined to discuss the March 3 test or the previously scheduled March 1 launch.
The March 3 test of the LORA is the second straight success after an embarrassing failure in November 2003, when carelessness in IAI's restricted-access control room resulted in the inadvertent commercial satellite broadcast of video and voice recordings related to the launch. Prior to that unintended public debut, LORA had been classified as a sensitive development system for the Israel Navy and Ground Forces, with the Indian Army a likely customer for initial export sales.
The Israel Air Force, which performs LORA's intended mission with its own air-launched weaponry, has expressed concerns about spending money on what it views as redundant ground- and sea-launched capabilities.
"There are a lot of advantages in providing all our services with precision strike capabilities. The debate in this case is about proportion rather than need, given our limited resources," according to an Israel Air Force official.
Source: IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis
