Israel braces for war against Arab states with U.S. weapons - Geostategy-Direct
JERUSALEM -- Israel has been urged to prepare for a regional conflict in which its Arab neighbors will use U.S. weaponry.
A new report said Israel's government and military must brace for the prospect that Arab militaries will replace their Soviet-origin systems for U.S. platforms. The report said this would mark a major boost to Arab conventional military might, an area where Israel has long maintained superiority.
"Israel must also very carefully follow the potential for regime changes in the region, and we must face the fact that Western weapons are replacing Eastern bloc weapons, a factor that poses a great risk to Israel in the hands of unfriendly regimes," stated the report by the Jerusalem-based Institute for Contemporary Affairs.
Over the past decade, the United States has become the chief military supplier to such Israeli neighbors as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Washington has also supplied the Palestinian Authority with light weapons and advanced communications equipment that have been used in the Palestinian war against Israel, which began in 2000.
"In the last few months, the Israel Air Force has undertaken fewer pre-emptive actions," stated the report, "21st Century Threats Facing Israel."
"The successful operations that we conducted four months ago changed the way the terrorists act. They are in hiding and are reducing their signature by all means."
The report, authored by Israel Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Dan Helutz, said Israel's Arab neighbors have initiated a new military doctrine designed to prevent the Jewish state from launching a pre-emptive strike, such as the one in 1967.
Helutz said Arab ground forces have lighter and more mobile platforms with an accent on a range of man-portable surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles.
"Our neighbors are now dispersing their military forces as part of a new doctrine in which they reduce the exposure of their regular military forces, blurring the distinction between the military and civilian sectors," the report said.
"The new doctrine calls for a 'low signature,' meaning mainly a change from armored forces to infantry forces, with a greater use of equipment such as anti-tank missiles, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, and Katyusha rockets.
These are all weapons with a very low signature, and are protected through camouflage, concealment, and deception."
The report said Israel's air force would require precision-strike and deep-strike capabilities to confront the increasing Westernization of Arab militaries.
The report also cited the need for an integrated information network that would provide a real-time picture of the battlefield as well as relay orders from senior commanders.
"Within two years, every single IDF fighting element in the air and on the ground will be connected to the same network," the report stated.
"Most units are already connected. This fact is already enabling us to be a more real-time force than we were in the past."
Helutz, in a report based on his address to the Jerusalem center on Jan. 15, 2004, said the air force also plans to increase its supremacy in the area of unmanned air vehicles. Israel was the first to deploy UAVs in the early 1970s.
"We believe we have a significant advantage in this area, and we are trying to develop it further," the report said. "Using unmanned vehicles is not only a matter of costs; it also reduces the risks to our crews."
JERUSALEM -- Israel has been urged to prepare for a regional conflict in which its Arab neighbors will use U.S. weaponry.
A new report said Israel's government and military must brace for the prospect that Arab militaries will replace their Soviet-origin systems for U.S. platforms. The report said this would mark a major boost to Arab conventional military might, an area where Israel has long maintained superiority.
"Israel must also very carefully follow the potential for regime changes in the region, and we must face the fact that Western weapons are replacing Eastern bloc weapons, a factor that poses a great risk to Israel in the hands of unfriendly regimes," stated the report by the Jerusalem-based Institute for Contemporary Affairs.
Over the past decade, the United States has become the chief military supplier to such Israeli neighbors as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Washington has also supplied the Palestinian Authority with light weapons and advanced communications equipment that have been used in the Palestinian war against Israel, which began in 2000.
"In the last few months, the Israel Air Force has undertaken fewer pre-emptive actions," stated the report, "21st Century Threats Facing Israel."
"The successful operations that we conducted four months ago changed the way the terrorists act. They are in hiding and are reducing their signature by all means."
The report, authored by Israel Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Dan Helutz, said Israel's Arab neighbors have initiated a new military doctrine designed to prevent the Jewish state from launching a pre-emptive strike, such as the one in 1967.
Helutz said Arab ground forces have lighter and more mobile platforms with an accent on a range of man-portable surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles.
"Our neighbors are now dispersing their military forces as part of a new doctrine in which they reduce the exposure of their regular military forces, blurring the distinction between the military and civilian sectors," the report said.
"The new doctrine calls for a 'low signature,' meaning mainly a change from armored forces to infantry forces, with a greater use of equipment such as anti-tank missiles, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, and Katyusha rockets.
These are all weapons with a very low signature, and are protected through camouflage, concealment, and deception."
The report said Israel's air force would require precision-strike and deep-strike capabilities to confront the increasing Westernization of Arab militaries.
The report also cited the need for an integrated information network that would provide a real-time picture of the battlefield as well as relay orders from senior commanders.
"Within two years, every single IDF fighting element in the air and on the ground will be connected to the same network," the report stated.
"Most units are already connected. This fact is already enabling us to be a more real-time force than we were in the past."
Helutz, in a report based on his address to the Jerusalem center on Jan. 15, 2004, said the air force also plans to increase its supremacy in the area of unmanned air vehicles. Israel was the first to deploy UAVs in the early 1970s.
"We believe we have a significant advantage in this area, and we are trying to develop it further," the report said. "Using unmanned vehicles is not only a matter of costs; it also reduces the risks to our crews."
