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Have ’Israel’s’ Missile Systems Hit a Snag?

Have ’Israel’s’ Missile Systems Hit a Snag?
folder_openZionist Entity access_time8 years ago
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Local Editor

Has the fracture with the US about security funding and the departure of high ranking officials in the War Ministry led to a delay in the development of the Arrow, Iron Dome, & David's Sling?

Have ’Israel’s’ Missile Systems Hit a Snag?

Last year the "Israeli" War Ministry outlined a list of successful trials of aerial systems, a number of which were scheduled to enter into operational use later this year. Yet, there's a fly in the ointment: Following several crises, layoffs, and departures of people central to the projects, progress had slowed down. At this stage it is still unclear whether the lag in development will have ramifications on military activity and when it will pick up momentum again.

Everything seemed optimistic in November of last year after several meetings between War Minister Moshe Ya'alon and US War Secretary Ashton Carter were held on the matter. At that point, the two officials had already agreed on the allowance "Israel" was to receive from the US to continue to develop military systems.

Regarding the military funding, Ya'alon went so far as to say that he and the war secretary "are already discussing the next round, because the current allocation, which we budgeted at $10 billion, is about to run out. One thing is clear," he added, "The financial assistance cannot stay at the same numbers, because clearly the need is greater today. The ["Israeli"] prime minister and the US president will discuss this need for additional support today."

Following the agreement negotiated between Ya'alon and Carter, "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry to further discuss matters. Reports have it that one of the conditions of the significant increase in military allowance support put in place by the government in Washington DC was a marked increase in efforts to compromise with the Palestinians, in an effort to renew political negotiations. However the "Israeli" entity's prime minister back pedaled from his initial agreement due to the expected opposition to the conditions from the more hawkish elements of his narrow coalition.

The head of HOMA in the War Ministry and the figure central to the development of aerial systems, Yair Ramati, was deposed from office after he violated information security regulations. His removal from his position as the head of the development of systems for the Arrow missile, Iron Dome, and David's Sling was a setback for the aerial institution.

Furthermore, his ouster led to skepticism on the part of the Americans, who see no logical reason for his dismissal. Sources privy to the nature of his dismissal told Maariv Hashavua, that although a temporary replacement has filled Ramati's position, Colonel Aviram Hasson, the Americans "aren't buying" the "Israeli" regime's explanation regarding Ramati's removal.

As if that weren't enough, the head of the so-called Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure, Ofir Shoham, gave notice two weeks ago of his intentions to step down from his position in the current year.

The amalgamation of all of these factors caused aerial system companies that have traditionally worked closely with the War Ministry to take a step back. One such company is Raytheon, a central partner that won a sizable portion of the American military allocation after waiting a considerable amount of time for future contracting.

In a week in which the Hizbullah's Secretary General, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, threatened to launch missiles at the ammonia plant in Haifa Bay, it appeared that the aerial systems were ever more critical.

In spite of this, the Iron Dome, for example, that saw significant upgrades in the last year (particularly since Operation Protective Edge), had seen a downturn in development. David's Sling, a system that acts as additional defense against short to medium range missiles and rockets, had seen a similar lag in development.

Source: JPost, Edited by website team

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