Arie Egozi: February 2013 Archives

The Israeli air force sees the new Lockheed Martin C-130Js it is about to get next year as part of its "long arm". 

The target now is to make the new aircraft fully operational a short time after they are delivered.

To be ready to operate these advanced transport aircraft immediately after they land in Israel, the air force performed a joint drill with US air force's  C-130Js that flew to Israel from Germany earlier this month.

The C-130Js arrived at Israel's Nevatim Airbase as part of a joint exercise designed to familiarise pilots with the aircraft.

The C-130Js joined the Israeli air force's Hercules C-130 aircraft, flying together over the Negev desert, conducting navigation missions, landing and parachuting - allowing the Israeli pilots to observe the capabilities of the newer model.

The exercise was carried out with Squadron 37 of the US air force, which is based at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. 

"This squadron is active in Afghanistan and in Africa as well," noted Lt Col Yinon, commander of the Elephants Squadron, which is expected to receive the new C-130Js.

Yinon said that the exercise exemplified the Israeli air force's goal of strengthening international co-operation, with the intention of learning from other air forces.

Earlier this year, I reported that the Israeli force had begun talks with Lockheed Martin about the possible purchase of another three C-130Js.

The first contract, signed in 2010, includes three C-130Js, but the air force said that it needs more. It has asked for a formal proposal for three additional aircraft.

The delivery of the first C-130J included in the first deal is expected next year.

The cockpits of the air force's C-130Js will have three seats, similar to the configuration used by US special forces.

The aircraft will be modified for the future installation of some Israeli systems.

 

The Israeli air force is operating 18 C-130E/Hs. In recent years all the fleet underwent fatigue tests with the assistance of Lockheed Martin. The C-130Es will be phased out while the C-130Hs will have structural treatment.

 

 

 

 

 

A new international airport in Eilat, the Israeli resort town on the Red Sea, is not only a must for the tourism industry, but also for Israeli aviation infrastructure. 

This planned airport will also serve as an alternative for the country's main international airport, Ben Gurion, in central Israel.

But in Israel not only does the left hand not know what the right one is doing, fingers in the same hand do not know what the other does.

After years of debating, the Israeli Airports Authority (IAA) decided that the new airport will be built in Timna, a short distance north of Eilat.

An internal IAA report reveals that building the Timna international airport near Eilat could create a "deadly" accumulated deficit that could endanger the existence of the authority as a viable body.

The continuing fight between the ministries of transport and finance is not helping.

Instead of accepting a proposal to build the new airport based on a build- operate-transfer (BOT) model, the ministries, on both sides of the fence and the IAA on it, are fighting and the likelihood of implementing the plan now looks very slim.

A BOT project would have created a new modern airport in two years. If a Chinese company had been chosen to build it, I'm sure that a bonus for early completion would have been a fact.

So, the latest twist in the stupid process again leaves Eilat without a proper airport.

Politicians should be involved in politics. National projects should be managed by experts.

A 6min trajectory that took the Arrow-3 above the atmosphere yesterday was a success for a system that - in spite of its relatively high exposure - will be classified for years to come.

The threat: long-range ballistic missiles armed with chemical warfare agents or nuclear warheads.

The solution: kill them far from Israel, and very high up.

The successful test of the Arrow-3 yesterday was an amazing achievement.
Neither the Israelis who followed the test from the control centre at Palmachim airbase, nor the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) officials that were present, could hide their enthusiasm.

The Arrow-3 performed an exo-atmospheric 6min trajectory through space, in accordance with the test plan. The weapon's two engines functioned as planned, and the result was a perfect trajectory.

The main contractor for the integration and development of the Arrow Weapon System is MLM of the Israel Aerospace Industries, in conjunction with Boeing.

The Arrow-3 will intercept outside the atmosphere. It will be much lighter then the Arrow-2, and will have superior manoeuvrability.

The "end-game" - when the kill vehicle will go for the final impact - will not be dependant on sensors from the ground.

The Arrow-3's very high exo-atmospheric interception altitudes, coupled with improved detection, discrimination and fire control, are designed to permit observed fire ("shoot-look-shoot").

This provides at least two and possibly three chances to kill each incoming missile. 

There is no place for failure when the incoming missile can cause thousands of casualties.

Israel has been under constant cyber attack from a number of hostile countries. Specific details related to attacks on the Israeli defence forces - including the air force - are classified, but are in "huge numbers".

The Israeli defence forces (IDF) take these attacks very seriously. "We consider these threats as severe as rockets and bombs," one source told me.

The IDF - specifically the Israeli air force (IAF) - relies on many network-centric systems that form the backbone of the service's capability to react to fast-evolving situations.

The IDF recently established a cyber defence situation room that will protect the military's computer systems 24 hours a day.

The situation room is capable of seeing the "big picture" of the different cyber defence units, assessing threats and incidents and working with local cyber defence teams.
Israel is one of the first nations in the world to establish a situation room devoted entirely to cyber defence.

"The situation room is part of the operational preparedness of the IDF, the goal being to maintain the constancy of the regular activity based on the IDF's cyber world - in the air, at sea and on land," a senior cyber defence officer told the IDF's magazine.

The cyber defence situation room is equipped with command and control and advanced monitoring systems, which were developed in conjunction with civilian defence companies.

"These systems enable the various branches of the military to forge their internal protective processes, while enabling the situation room itself to oversee these processes," the officer explained. "Furthermore, the situation room neutralizes cyber activity that occurs in the world that could harm the IDF."

The situation room is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week by dozens of soldiers who have completed the IDF's Cyber Shield Course.

This training course incorporates training on a simulator that imitates cyber attacks - the world's first simulator of its kind.

IDF cyber defence teams stationed throughout Israel are responsible for dealing with cyber incidents locally. In case of an incident these crews cannot handle independently, a back-up crew arrives to provide support, under the command of the situation room.

According to an IDF source the new cyber defence situation room will provide more precise assessments of threats and incidents, making the cyber defence teams more effective and dramatically increasing the security of the IDF's computer systems.

The Indian army may become one of the first foreign customers for Rafael's Iron Dome rocket interceptor.

Recently, the Indian navy declared that it is not interested in the Israeli system, which achieved a 90% kill rate during recent fighting in the Gaza strip. The army, on the other hand, is showing great interest.

In the meantime, Rafael is continuing the development of its longer-range rocket and missile interceptor, David's Sling.

A company source said on February 20 that development is scheduled to be complete at the end of next year.

Last November, Rafael and the Israeli Missile Defence Organisation (IMDO) successfully tested David's Sling.

Representatives of the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) were at the test. The US is partially funding the development of David's Sling and Raytheon is a subcontractor to Rafael.

During the test, the Elta radar was operated in shadow mode, while the target was detected by other sensors. In future tests, the Elta radar will be used as the main sensor.

The sensors detected the incoming long-range rocket and, seconds later, the Stunner interceptor was launched and destroyed the target rocket. Sources said that the inert interceptor achieved a kinetic hit.

Uzi Rubin, the former head of the IMDO, said after the test that a hit-to-kill interceptor allows the verification of the destruction of the threat "and this is a very critical piece of information in the intercept sequence". 

David's Sling will be part of a multilayered system Israel is building to defend itself from rockets and missiles. The first layer is the Iron Dome.

David's Sling will be the second layer, with Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 the third layer against ballistic missiles. David's Sling is designed to intercept rockets with a range of 70km (43 miles) to 250km, but this capability will increase in the future. The system is also designed to intercept cruise missiles.

Many countries in the world have realised that rockets of all types are not only a threat to troops, but to civilians. That might affect the potential size of the market for anti-rocket systems.

They are too small to carry an effective payload, but as a group they are capable of affecting the battleground. 

The trend is clear - "swarms" of mini- or micro-unmanned air systems (UAS) are expected in the coming years. 

To enable this, "task-sharing" payloads will be needed, and these are being developed now.

But how far are UAS swarms from implementation? While there is no clear answer, we may yet be surprised.

Israeli experts emphasise that the problem is not the technology involved, but instead the understanding of the military commanders that this concept is possible.

Work on developing UAS swarm technology is being performed mainly in the US and Israel.

Boeing performed autonomous communications and operation of a swarm of small UAS over of eastern Oregon a few years ago.

This test involved two ScanEagles made by Boeing/Insitu and one Procerus - developed by the John Hopkins University

The swarm technology aims to imitate the way insects communicate and perform tasks as an intelligent group.

The UAS that participated in the Boeing tests worked together to search the test area through self-generating waypoints and terrain mapping, while simultaneously sending information to teams on the ground.

And now the assessment: Israel has been using all types of UAS for over 40 years, and may be a leading force in the development of UAS swarms.

Experts talk generally without mentioning a specific programme. They assess that such a swarm will consist of at least five micro-UAS, and will use a network-centric type of communication system that will allow the "task-sharing effect".

The postponed air agreement between Israel and the EU will again be put on the table after the new Israeli government is formed.

In the meantime, Israeli airlines, especially the smaller ones, are taking steps to be better ready for the open skies reality that the agreement will create.

One example is Israir. This small airline will receive its third Airbus A320 in the first quarter of 2014. In the meantime, the airline has implemented an operational mode that allows it to perform quick turnarounds in all the European destinations it serves.

Israir currently operates two A320s and two ATR-72s. The airline flies to 15 European destinations and, domestically, from Tel Aviv to Eilat, the resort on the Red Sea.

With load factors of almost 90 %, Israir had to use its small fleet intensively. By implementing a quick turnaround operational mode, the A320 can perform more flights every day.

A company source said that at Rome airport, the turnaround time went down from 90 minutes to "less than an hour".

In Eilat, the ATR-72s take off 18 minutes after offloading passengers.

The airline expects the open skies agreement between Europe and Israel to increase tourist traffic to Israel, which will affect its European and domestic traffic.

Final approval of the agreement was postponed by the Israeli Ministry of Transport because of the recent elections in Israel.

The agreement will allow all EU airlines to operate direct flights to Israel from anywhere in the EU and Israeli carriers will be able to operate flights to airports throughout the EU. 

The EU-Israel air transport market will be opened gradually, so that by the start of the summer of 2017, the market will be fully open, with no restrictions on the number of weekly flights between Israel and the EU.

How do you persuade airlines to equip their fleets with systems that can counter shoulder-launched missiles? 

It seems to be an impossible mission, but there may be parallel markets and that assumption resulted in co-operation between Boeing and Elbit Systems.

According to the co-operation agreement, Boeing will offer Elbit's directed infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) systems with all its military and civil aircraft.

The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding that supports the growth of both firms through the "joint pursuit of opportunities for self-defense solutions for Boeing military aircraft in international markets".

The companies will offer Elbit's DIRCM systems for a range of Boeing military fixed-wing and vertical-lift aircraft. 

The Elbit DIRCM systems, produced by the company's ELOP division, are lightweight, compact and designed to protect aircraft from common battlefield threats, mainly heat-seeking shoulder-launched missiles.

Boeing's Network & Space Systems and Boeing Military Aircraft organisations are working together to integrate the systems into new and existing aircraft, as well as to provide signature analysis and end-to-end services and support.

The Elbit Systems Commercial Multi-Spectral Infrared Countermeasure (C-MUSIC) system has recently performed a series of successful flight tests on board a Boeing 707. 

The system, designated to protect large jet aircraft against shoulder-launched missiles, successfully performed all the necessary functions.

While airlines do not seem the best potential customers, other users are showing great interest.

The companies will offer a range of variants that will fit large aircraft, helicopters and business jets. 

I think the biggest potential is in what is referred to generally as "mission aircraft" - air tankers, early warning and reconnaissance platforms and official VIP aircraft.

The Elbit DIRCM systems were developed initially to protect the aircraft of Israeli airlines. This programme is under way. In the meantime the number of shoulder-launched missiles in the hands of terrorists has risen dramatically.

With such missiles sold on the black market for as little as $5,000, the threat looks very real.

The growing threat from countries with a huge arsenal of long-range missiles, some with chemical warfare warheads, is forcing Israel to improve its defences.

The Arrow air defence system, designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles, will continue to evolve this year with a wide range of improvements and upgrades. 

Some of the new improvements include the establishment of a new interception management centre, deployment of armoured launchers with enhanced firing capacity, better communications with other missile systems, and longer-range interception capabilities.

"The range of targets and threats that the system can deal with will broaden," explained Maj Roie Feldshuh, Head of the Arrow Division in the Shield Administration, which is responsible for the development of weapons in the Air Defense Formation. 

"We will be able to intercept targets at both longer ranges and lower altitudes," he told the IAF magazine.

As part of the upgrade, a new interception management centre will be established, with improved capabilities including more management posts, technical and operational improvements. It will be equipped with the new cutting edge Super Green Pine detection radar made by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

"It is the most advanced radar system," Feldshuh said. "Its detection capabilities are twice as good as the detection capabilities of the current radar, Green Pine. 

"In the Arrow system we don't remove military equipment, rather we add more and more. At the same time as Super Green Pine, the Green Pine radars will continue to function, and thus we will create far greater detection capabilities."

Furthermore, as part of the series of upgrades, permanent Arrow batteries will be stationed on an IAF base. Also, information sharing with other air defence systems will improve. The upgrade will allow for optimal co-ordination against medium-range missiles with the David's Sling air defence system, which is scheduled to enter into operational use in the coming years.

This system is now being developed by Rafael in co-operation with Raytheon.

When platforms become very expensive, the market requires methods that will enable them to fly and still serve operational needs.

Some air forces operate fighter aircraft that were manufactured in the Soviet Union - and relatively newer ones built in modern-day Russia.

Even when diplomatic circumstances create potential for purchasing Western replacements, this is not always possible because budgets cannot support such a buy.

Israeli companies have realised this, and have launched a method of adapting systems designed for Western fighters to fit eastern fighters.

Recently, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) unveiled an expansion of its 'Ehud' Autonomous Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (AACMI) family.

This system was adapted to fit eastern fighter aircraft.

IAI's Ehud is a real-time air combat, training, debriefing and safety system for fighter pilots.

The system allows high-level live training, with the ability to fire simulated armaments and receive real-time hit\miss assessments, as well as post-exercise debriefing.

The fighters can train jointly with ships, helicopters and air defense platforms, as IAI provides dedicated embedded training systems for each unit.

IAI has also developed an AACMI pod in an R-73 (air-to-air missile) enclosure.

The Israeli company claims this makes Ehud the only AACMI pod on the market which can fit any R-73-compatible aircraft.

According to IAI the Ehud family can be found in AIM-9L, Hellfire and R-73 enclosures, as well as in a variety of onboard line-replaceable unit boxes and racks which fit ships, utility helicopters and air defense platforms. 

Ehud could be fitted to additional enclosures upon demand.

Prolonging the life of old fighter fleets is not simple, but companies are trying to solve some of the problems involved.

 

Reconnaissance started many years ago with a scout looking out of the aircraft's window, then became more sophisticated, with different electro-optical and radar payloads - and now it has taken a big step forward.

Elbit Systems has teamed up with Windward - another Israeli company - to offer a unique integrated maritime solution.

The joint solution combines Windward's innovative satellite-based maritime analytics system, MarInt, with Elbit Systems' wide range of solutions for maritime domain awareness, including Hermes-900 maritime patrol unmanned air systems.

The cooperation became public when the two companies offered the combined solution to India. It addresses the specific needs of India and its vast and complex maritime arena.

The cooperation makes available a unique system adapted for very large maritime area monitoring, providing authorities with powerful means to control India's waters.

MarInt maps global maritime activity in unprecedented detail, based on data collected from various sources such as commercial satellites, open-source databases and other sensors.

Covering any area of interest, regardless of the distance from shore, MarInt delivers maritime domain awareness over littoral or bluewater areas, for Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) monitoring, fishery control, regional traffic analysis or port traffic management.

After the routine maritime patterns are observed and learned, the system performs deep behavior analysis on every vessel spotted in the designated area of interest, in order to detect anomalous or suspicious behavior.

The Maritime Hermes-900, in its new configuration, is carrying a selectable mission payload of up to 350kg, including maritime surveillance radar, an automatic identification system, electro-optical multi-sensor payload and electronic surveillance systems.

It has the endurance to cover vast ocean areas and redundant line-of-sight and satellite communications links and radio relays - enabling operators to talk to local vessels while patrolling remote sea areas at extended ranges from shore.

Countries realise that controlling territorial waters and EEZ is becoming a tough mission - to perform it, they need very advanced tools.

When you add to that the problem of piracy, the situation calls for the best available solutions.

These two companies claim they are offering one.

ARIE EGOZI

 

Very realistic scenario: rockets launched from Gaza or Lebanon hit Israeli Air Force (IAF) bases. The squadrons have to perform a record number of missions, using the runways and other facilities that have been hit.

The IAF is getting prepared for a situation in which its bases will be under heavy attacks from rockets and missiles. A special unit, equipped and trained, has one mission: to allow the aircraft to take off and land under all circumstances.

Recently, according to the IAF magazine, the special battalion in charge has conducted a large drill that simulated such an attack. The drill took place in the IAF's Hazor base, as part of the functional continuity training plan.

The special battalion consists of reservists that are being trained to make sure that the base's combat squadrons can keep on taking off for operational missions at any given time. "We take this exercise very seriously. We have to be prepared for any possible scenario," says Lt Col (Res.) Michael Rabinowitz, commander of the battalion. "Although this is all new to us since we had never exercised this specifically, we can see significant changes in the functioning of the battalion."

In war, the battalion will be responsible for smooth functioning under various extreme scenarios, from chemical weapon attack to hits by conventional rockets.

The battalion is equipped for the quick fixing of runways and for restoring all the base's critical services.

The IAF has some back-up plans for the worst scenarios, but one thing is behind any doubt: everything possible will be done, under the toughest conditions, to enable the IAF to operate. For Israel, this is a crucial element.

To an "innocent bystander", the words Joseph Weiss - president and chief executive of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI )  - said yesterday at Aero India 2013 may be considered a standard speech.

The fact is that every word was selected and weighted carefully.

After some nice words of pride for the performance of IAI in the Indian market, the company's president went on to more meaningful words.

He said: "All Israeli industries operating in the Indian defense market are in stiff competition with global and leading international powers. Despite competition, many Israeli systems operate in all arms of the Indian army.

"These systems use leading technologies, allowing us to enter joint ventures with Indian arms and research institutes. The basis for today's special relationship is the close professional and personal connection existing between leading Israel Ministry of Defense officials and top defense industries."

He added: "I urge my colleagues in the Israeli industries to make every effort to promote cooperation. Yet when we do compete, I call for dignity and collegiality. I can assure you that we at IAI will do so."

To explain what is behind these words - India has become one of the major markets for the Israeli aerospace and defense industries, with IAI leading the pack. But what until some years ago could be considered a "captive market" is far from that now.

American and European companies have stormed the Indian market in recent years, and the competition is strong on every tender issued by the Indian government.

In addition, India has put some new demands on offset agreements - and this of course has also made the competition between Israeli companies fiercer than ever.

So the words of the president of Israel's major aerospace defence contractor were directed toward specific ears - expressing hope that all Israeli companies involved will understand the new rules of the game.

The injection of cash into the accounts of Israeli airline EL AL is an important step, but it will have to be followed by others to have a long term effect.

The Israeli FIMI fund is in advanced negotiations to join the controlling core of EL AL, together with the Borovich family, and inject up to $60 million into the airline.

The deal will be implemented in several stages. FIMI will initially inject $5 million into El Al in exchange for 5.7% of the company. The fund will also buy $5 million worth of shares from El Al's current controlling shareholder, Knafaim Holdings.

In the second and main stage of the deal, FIMI will inject $30 million into El Al by August, against an additional allotment of shares

After the completion of the first two stages of the deal FIMI will have a 30% stake, while Knafaim will be reduced to a minority stake of 24%.

El Al, managed by Eliezer Shkedi, former commander of the Israeli air force, is going through a challenging period. Its share price has dropped by 72% in the past two years.

However, this new cash injection will still not be enough if EL AL does not realise it has to make some profound changes.

For example, EL AL sees the upcoming Common Aviation Area agreement between Israel and Europe in apocalyptic terms. 

In recent years the Israeli airline has become a "series complainer". First it was the fact that it was not accepted to any of the aviation alliances, and now it is the agreement with Europe. The airline succeeded in delaying the signing of the agreement indefinitely

Instead  of trying to change the bad situation of flying only five and a half days a week, EL AL chose to try and survive in this harsh environment, with no tools to do so. 

The money injection will help, but it will be like a painkiller for a chronic migraine.

The situation in Syria is very unstable because of the civil war. 

Israel has not interfered, but it has drawn two lines that must not be crossed: attempts to use the chaos to transfer chemical warfare agents from Syria into "non governmental" hands, or to move weapon systems to the Hezbollah terror organisation in Lebanon.

The world press claims it was the Israel air force (IAF) which carried out an attack on a Syrian site and convoy last week.

Even after Syria admitted that some installations in its territory were hit from the air, the facts surrounding the "stealth attack" are still limited.

Recently it became clear that one of the targets was a Syrian convoy carrying Russian-made SA-17 (Grizzly) surface to air missiles. These, according to the sources, were meant for the hands of Hezbollah.

Some sources said the raid had a secondary aim - to test the capability of the Syrian anti-aircraft system to detect fighter aircraft entering the country's airspace.

The mysterious attack continues to generate media stories. Officially Israel has not reacted to any of the "finger pointing", and the words "according to foreign sources" have been used since the attack more than a hundred times in Israel.

Without any reference to the attack, it is clear that in recent weeks the IAF has been on high alert because of the fluid situation in Syria. 

This state of alert will continue until things become clearer - but that might take a while.