'No option is off the table on Iran' IDF creates Hizbullah village, forest
AP and JPost.com staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
Report: Israel’s F-35 Orders May be Pushed Back Two Years
The F-35, originally known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), is the next-generation fighter plane intended to replace aging fleets in the U.S. and allied countries. Israel submitted a formal letter on July 1st outlining its intention to buy up to 75 planes, in a deal reportedly worth around $15 billion.
The JET, an independent body set up to monitor the F-35’s development, said ongoing complications with engineering and design changes to the plane would cause the two-year delay. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) warned that as a result of JET’s findings, as much as $7.4 billion could be added to the cost of the plane's development program.
Lockheed Martin Denies
On the other hand, the Lockheed Martin program office responsible for the F-35 said production of the plane would not be delayed. “JET analysis is grounded in past performance of other legacy fighter programs and does not fully acknowledge proactive F-35 management steps,” spokeswoman Cheryl Limrick said.
The F-35 program received a boost from the U.S. Senate last week when it voted 58-40 not to approve funding for additional F-22 fighter planes. The F-22, also developed by Lockheed Martin, is a futuristic fighter which some say outperforms the F-35, but which is almost much more costly. The U.S. has not authorized any to be sold overseas.
Negotiations between Israel and the U.S. for procurement of the F-35 are ongoing. Points of contention between the two focus on whether Israel will be allowed fit the plane with its own weapons and electronics systems, and whether Israel will be allowed to repair the plane locally without having to turn to the U.S. for components or service.
U.S. Air Force Commander General Norton A. Schwartz - the first Jew to hold this post - met in Israel last week with Israeli Air Force commander Major General Ido Nehushtan, and the two reportedly discussed the F-35. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who arrives in Israel on Monday, is also expected to discuss the arms deal with Israeli officials.
network of bunkers and arms stockpiles in south Lebanon, but has located
them almost entirely inside Shi'ite villages rather than in open areas, as
it did sometimes in the past.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Senior IDF officers warn of Hezbollah move on Lebanon border
By Amos Harel Haaretz Last update - 06:31 27/07/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1103108.html
Senior Israel Defense Forces staff and defense establishment personnel are
very concerned about the possibility of a serious incident on the Lebanese
border in the near future.
Tensions with Hezbollah have risen lately, especially since one of the
organization's warehouses of Katyusha rockets in southern Lebanon blew up
about two weeks ago. In response, defense officials have held several
high-level consultations on the situation.
The explosion revealed that Hezbollah was still stockpiling rockets south of
the Litani River, in violation of Lebanon's obligations under UN Security
Council Resolution 1701, which marked the end of the Second Lebanon War in
2006.
From Israel's standpoint, this revelation was advantageous: It caused the
United States to convene a special Security Council session, which Hezbollah
worries might influence the upcoming council debate on extending the mandate
of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. Hezbollah does not want UNIFIL to be
allowed to expand its searches for arms in southern Lebanon.
Shortly after the explosion, a group of Shi'ite demonstrators staged a
border provocation by crossing over into Israeli-controlled territory at
Shaba Farms. Moreover, since then, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan
Nasrallah has made two aggressive statements. In one, he vowed to reopen the
question of the Lebanese "prisoners" held by Israel - though the only
remaining such "prisoner" is a terrorist killed in 1978 whose body was
subsequently lost. In the second declaration, this weekend, he claimed that
Israel plans to attack Lebanon again within the year.
The explosion was merely the latest in a series of recent setbacks suffered
by the organization, most of which it blames on Israel. The most serious was
the assassination of senior Hezbollah official Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in
February 2008 - which, despite numerous attempts, the group has not yet
succeeded in avenging.
The movement's leaders may also feel a need to act in order to restore their
deterrence against Israel - especially given the boasts of numerous Israeli
officials two weeks ago, on the third anniversary of the outbreak of the
Second Lebanon War, about the quiet that has reigned on the border since
then.
Nevertheless, defense officials still believe the organization is more
likely to try to strike Israeli targets abroad than to start trouble along
the border.
Senior IDF officers believe that Hezbollah has completely rebuilt its
network of bunkers and arms stockpiles in south Lebanon, but has located
them almost entirely inside Shi'ite villages rather than in open areas, as
it did sometimes in the past. The warehouse explosion revealed this fact,
and has prompted Hezbollah to worry that Israeli intelligence may know where
its new bases are located.
The organization is also under pressure due to events unrelated to Israel:
It lost the recent Lebanese elections, and its patron, Iran, is now in the
throes of domestic upheaval. These could serve as moderating factors, but
could also spur it to engage in provocative activity. Navy Successfully Tests Barak Defensive Missile
Saar 5 type missile ship
Can't see video of the missile test? Click here.
Barak missile (Israel news image / Rafael website)
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 27, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1248277897506&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
Hamas is digging tunnels next to United Nations facilities under the
assumption that the IDF will not target them during a future conflict,
defense officials warned on Sunday.
The officials said a tunnel Hamas had been digging adjacent to a UN school
in Beit Hanun had collapsed earlier this month. According to some reports
obtained by Israel, the collapse of the tunnel caused damage inside the
school. UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness denied the report.
According to one official, the tunnel was being dug directly next to the
school and likely underneath it as well.
The IDF's concern, a defense official said, was that Hamas was digging
tunnels adjacent to UN and other international facilities because the terror
group knew that the IDF would think twice before bombing them.
The official said it was certain that the digging was being done without the
UN's knowledge.
The idea of tunneling near the UN school, the official said, was a lesson
Hamas had learned from Operation Cast Lead earlier this year, during which
the IDF did its utmost to avoid targeting UN facilities.
"Hamas uses civilian infrastructure to hide behind," explained the official.
"This is another example of Hamas's cynical use of a school."
This is not the first time Palestinian terrorists have used the Beit Hanun
school. In October 2007, an IAF drone videotaped three terrorists preparing
and then launching mortars from within the UN school compound in Beit Hanun.
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST
Monday, 27 July 2009
Jul. 27, 2009
Israel does not rule out any means of dealing with Iran's nuclear threat, and is taking "no option off the table", Defense Minister Ehud Barak told US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday.
"This is our position. We mean it," Barak added.
Speaking alongside Gates in a joint press conference at the Jerusalem King David hotel, the defense minister's declaration indicated that a military strike by Israel was still a possibility, though Barak also said he hoped diplomacy would succeed, while urging the US to set a short deadline and prepare hard-biting financial sanctions against Iran.
"Israel remains in its basic position that no options should be removed from the table, even though priority at this stage should be given to diplomacy," he said.
At the same time, Barak did not ignore the predicted implications of an Israeli offensive against Teheran. "We are not blind, whatever we do can have implications on our neighbors and others, we are trying to take that into account," he said.
Gates's visit to Israel is seen in part as aiming at dissuading Israel from taking any military action against Teheran and buying time for US diplomacy to bear fruit. However, Barak's no-options-off-table comment - repeated three times - may indicate Gates made no visible headway in that goal.
Acknowledging Israel's concerns, Gates said the US administration's attempt to engage Iran diplomatically was "not an open-ended offer" and that the US was aware Iran might try to "run out the clock."
Gates said the Obama administration wanted an answer from the Iranians by the time of the UN General Assembly convention, at the end of September. "I think that the president is certainly anticipating or hoping for some kind of response this fall, perhaps by the time of the UN General Assembly," he said.
He said sanctions were a possibility if diplomacy fails, while also mentioning plans for a loosely defined "defense umbrella" meant to protect US allies in the region.
The US was contributing financially and technically to fortifying Israel's missile defense program, Gates added, reiterating a pledge that Israel would maintain its technological advantage over its enemies.
"We will continue to ensure that Israel has the most advanced weapons for its national defense," he said.
The secretary of defense is scheduled to meet later with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
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Av 5, 5769, 26 July 09 10:19
by Yehuda Lev Kay(Israelnationalnews.com) Israel’s order for 75 F-35 Lightning II fighter planes from Lockheed Martin may be pushed back two years to 2016, according to an internal Pentagon report. The Joint Estimate Team (JET) said the F-35 program is facing delays and cost overruns, the Washington-based Congressional Quarterlyreported on Thursday.
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Senior IDF officers believe that Hezbollah has completely rebuilt its
Av 5, 5769, 26 July 09 08:22
by Gil RonenIsrael news photo: IDF website(Israelnationalnews.com) The Israel Navy conducted a successful test of the improved Barak anti-missile missile last week. The missile was fired from a Saar 5 type ship, and successfully hit a target simulating an enemy missile.
The Barak has undergone improvements in recent years, making its ability to hit enemy missiles more precise.
[weJew:5413]
The changes in the Barak were made by the Navy, the Weapons Development Authority Rafael, and the Israel Aerospace Industries. It is considered to be one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world.
The Barak is launched from an upright position, thus saving room on the deck of the ship and enabling it to hit targets in a 360-degree range around the ship.
The Barak was upgraded following estimates that Israel’s enemies intend to introduce a new type of missile to the naval arena. A senior naval officer told Ynet that the system could counter a “very advanced threat” which may be present in the arena in the very near future. He said that the changes in the Barak allow it to shoot down enemy missiles that travel at a faster speed than before, and that carry out meaningful maneuvers.
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'Hamas tunneling near UN facilities'
Jul. 27, 2009
A IDF training exercise.
In the face of Hizbullah's heavy deployment inside southern Lebanese villages, the IDF is creating a new training regimen for infantry troops to prepare them for a combination of urban and guerrilla warfare by building special training centers in military bases across the country.
Shortly after the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the IDF built a replica of a Hizbullah "nature reserve" - a forested area where the group had dug bunkers and deployed rocket launchers - to train IDF troops. Now, the IDF is building an urban warfare center - consisting of a mock Lebanese village - which it plans to connect to the replica of the nature reserve.
"Hizbullah has created most of its positions inside homes in southern Lebanon," explained a senior IDF officer last week, adding that an example of this had been demonstrated two weeks ago with the accidental explosion of a Hizbullah rocket cache inside a home in the village of Khirbet Selm.
The home, the IDF later revealed, was also connected to an underground series of tunnels that led to additional positions in nature reserves.
In footage taken several months before the explosion, an IDF aircraft caught several senior Hizbullah operatives entering an underground tunnel near the house and reappearing from an exit 700 meters away.
"During the Second Lebanon War, our biggest challenges were the nature reserves that Hizbullah had created in the open," the officer said. "Now, the challenge will be to fight against Hizbullah in an urban setting and then to move through the tunnels into the forest."
In order to meet the operational challenge, the IDF is creating special training centers like the one at Elyakim, which combine urban and guerrilla warfare. In the coming months, the IDF will begin construction of a similar center at the Lachish training base, near Beit Shemesh.
In addition to constructing the new training facilities, the IDF is purchasing two rubber urban training centers - each consisting of 18 structures - in which soldiers will be allowed to carry out live-fire exercises. In the current urban training centers, the IDF can only hold dry-fire exercises, since live fire would generate shrapnel that could injure the soldiers.
In the new centers, made completely of rubber, the soldiers will be able to shoot live bullets, since they would be absorbed by the walls. The new centers also come with built-in camera systems that enable quick examination of the results of the exercise.
The two rubber centers will be stationed at the Kfir Brigade's training base in the Jordan Valley and the Golani Brigade's training base near Binyamina.
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