Israel invaded Gaza in December 2008 in an attempt to stop years of persistent rocket fire at Israeli civilians near the Palestinian territory. Some 1,400 Gazans, including hundreds of civilians, and 13 Israelis were killed in the three-week offensive.

Until the recent flareup, cross-border violence remained at a relatively low level.

However, the balance of power has gradually shifted since the war.

On Thursday, Israel first used a new system designed to intercept incoming rockets. The system, Iron Dome, has now successfully shot down eight projectiles aimed at Israeli cities, the military said, though Israeli officials say it cannot provide a complete defense.  [Associated Press]

Iron Dome has been in development for years and if it is in fact intercepting rockets from Gaza this is a pretty significant capability for the Israelis and could explain why the Palestinian militants are now targeting school buses with laser guided missiles from Gaza.

For those interested in reading more about the Iron Dome intercepts the Israeli Ynet News has an article posted.

Back in April, the Obama administration announced a big shift in missile-defense priorities: It would move away from ambitious, technologically shaky “boost phase” defenses, and pour more money into fielding anti-missiles that might actually stop an attack from Iran or North Korea. This week, those retooled defenses get a big test – in Israel.

This week, the United States and Israel kicked off a major air-defense exercise that will test scenarios including coordinated missile barrages launched from Iran or from Syria, as well as shorter-range rocket attacks by Hezbollah or Hamas. The exercise, Juniper Cobra, is part of a series of biannual war games that dates back to 2001, but it’s worth watching closely for several reasons.

First, there’s politics. Brig. Gen. Doron Gavish, commander of the Israel Air Force’s Air Defense Division, said in a press conference that the exercise was not related to Iran’s continued missile tests and enrichment of nuclear fuel. “It is a carefully designed exercise that has been taking place for years.” But Ha’aretz describes the drill as “preparation for a faceoff with Iran.”

Case in point: Juniper Cobra includes a major civil-defense exercise that will test readiness against a catastrophic missile strike against an Israeli city. As part of the contingent of 1,000 U.S. troops taking part in the exercise, the Ohio Army National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force will take part; the Guardsmen have been training with the Israeli Home Front Command as part of the exercise.

Some of the Obama administration’s favored missile-stoppers will also be deployed for the exercise, including the Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the Navy’s Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), part of the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense.

The deployment of THAAD — pictured here in a 2006 test — is particularly important. “This unique system intercepts in an transitional area between earth’s atmosphere and space to include a range of 20 miles below and above the 62 mile or 100 kilometer line,” said Riki Ellison, a prominent missile-defense advocate. “None of the current or future deployed missile defense systems intercept in this vertical space. Because of this vertical engagement area capability, the THAAD system can take multiple shots and use the atmosphere to strip off debris and countermeasures to better target the incoming warhead. The larger land-based missile defense system, the GBIs [Ground-Based Interceptors] as well as the sea-based missile defense system, the Aegis and SM-3, intercept above the 100k line at a higher altitudes in space, while the Patriot System ground-based system intercepts missiles in air below the atmosphere.”

The AN/TPY-2 radar — the powerful X-band radar that is part of the THAAD system — was deployed to Israel last year. Military officials have discussed tying this land-based radar to missile-defense ships offshore, creating a more mobile and flexible missile-defense system with wider coverage. [Danger Room]

Read the rest at the link.

Boeing built part of the Arrow II interceptor that successfully shot down a ballistic missile target April 7 in a test of Israel’s national missile defense system.

The operationally realistic test, conducted in Israel by the Israel Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, used an interceptor co-produced by Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and equipped with new capability enhancements.

“This successful test underscores the effectiveness of the cooperative relationship we have forged with IAI on the Arrow program and other international missile defense initiatives,” said Greg Hyslop, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.

“Boeing is proud to co-produce Arrow II interceptors, which provide the state of Israel with a proven defense capability against ballistic missile threats.”

The event marked the co-produced Arrow II’s second intercept in two attempts, as well as its third successful flight test. The Arrow II is part of the Arrow Weapon System, which Israel and the United States have jointly developed to defend Israel against the growing threat of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.  [Space War]

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has finally prevailed upon his own military bureaucrats in the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv to buy Raytheon’s excellent Vulcan Phalanx super-fast heavy machine gun and guidance system as a defense system against very-short-range ballistic missiles.

Barak told the respected Israeli newspaper Haaretz April 20 that he had finally taken the plunge to buy the Vulcan Phalanx system, a mature technology effective up to 4 miles in range that has operated superbly well for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and Iraq, for the Israel Defense Forces. It is expected to be deployed to guard Sderot and other Israeli communities in northwestern Negev that have been under bombardment for years from Gaza.

Israeli press reports have presented Barak as the hero who wanted to buy the Vulcan Phalanx before but was stymied by his own bureaucracy, but there appears to be a large element of spin control in those reports.

The fact is that Barak had bet heavily and publicly on the Israeli-manufactured Iron Dome to provide defense for the embattled town of Sderot and other communities within pre-1967 borders that have been relentlessly bombarded by Qassam rockets from Gaza for years. But the Iron Dome system is still years away even from prototype testing, let alone operational production and deployment.

Barak enthusiastically embraced the Iron Dome very-short-range BMD system after taking office in 2006. But as we have reported in these columns, Iron Dome, being developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, has progressed far more slowly, with far more difficulty and cost overruns than Barak and its planners anticipated, though they should have.  [Space War]

In July 2008, Aviation Week reported that the US Missile Defense Agency is considering a land-based variant of the SM-3 Standard missile – largely due to specific requests from Israel.

Israel currently fields the medium range Arrow-2 land-based ABM system, supplemented by Patriot missiles for point defense. The Arrow has performed well in tests, however, and an order for more was placed as recently as February 2008. What could Israel’s rationale be?  [Defense Industry Daily]

The first thing I wondered when I read the headine that Israel wanted SM-3′s, was, I thought that had Arrow?

Well here is Israel’s supposed rationale for wanting the SM-3:

Several possibilities exist that would allow Israel to keep its Arrow system as an active program, and still deploy the SM-3s.

For one thing, Israel’s new LCS-I frigates will have the ability to fire SM-3 missiles. They would need to link to an ABM radar for guidance, however, unless their SPY-1F radars are modified for an ABM role. SPY-1F radars have yet to be modified in this way, unlike their larger and more powerful SPY-1D cousins. In contrast, Israel already fields ABM-capable land radars like its “Green Pine” system. Linkage of the missile’s guidance to those kinds of land platforms, however, would involve many of the same modifications required by a fully land-launched and controlled SM-3.

Second, the SM-3 boats a range about 5x longer than the Arrow, at 300 miles vs. 50-60 miles. A tripartite system of SM-3, Arrow-2, and Patriot missiles would effectively cover the 3 layered tiers required by a country Israel’s size: national defense/ first line of defense, defense of key regions/ second shot, and defense of specific sites/ final attempt.

Read the rest on your own, but it is true that the SM-3 has a tremendous range advantage compared to Arrow.  It makes me wonder if the Israelis are trying to send a message by trying to upgrade their Air Defense Systems plus adding increased C-RAM capability as well?

U.S. troops took part in a missile defense exercise in Israel last week that for the first time incorporated a U.S.-owned radar system deployed to the country in October.

About 100 Europe-based troops continue to operate the X-Band radar, which is intended to give Israel early warning in the event of a missile launch from Iran.

While it’s not a permanent assignment for U.S. troops, as long as the radar is in use, U.S. personnel will be there to operate it, U.S. European Command said.

“The actual length of time has not been determined,” EUCOM said in a statement. “The U.S. and Israel will continue to monitor the security environment in the region and will base any decisions on radar deployment on a thorough analysis of Israel’s missile defense requirements. We are focused on the mission, not the calendar.”

Initially, 120 EUCOM personnel were dispatched in September to set up the Army/Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance system, which was made available at the request of Israel’s government.

A mix of troops and Defense Department contractors manage the day-to-day operation of the radar, which is situated at Nevatim air base in the Negev Desert.

According to the military, the radar is purely defensive and useful against medium- and long-range ballistic missile attacks.

Last Monday, Israel conducted a test of an upgraded version of the Arrow anti-missile system that involved shooting down a rocket that simulated Iran’s Shihab missile. The rocket was shot down off Israel’s coastline. This was the first Israeli test to include the U.S. radar.

“The radar is considered to be one of the most powerful defensive systems available and its performance and the performance of everyone on the U.S. and Israel team are doing exceptionally well in promoting regional security and providing a useful deterrent to any attack,” EUCOM stated.

The system is reportedly capable of tracking a baseball-size object from a distance of 2,900 miles.

It is expected to enable Israel to more rapidly activate its missile-defense system in the event of an attack.  [Stars & Stripes]

This radar was first sent to Israel last year.