http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=886937&C=thisweek
Posted 06/06/05 09:07 Print-friendly version Israel Accents Multimission Robotics for Anti-Terror Ops By BARBARA OPALL-ROME, HERZLIYA, Israel Technological advances combined with lessons learned from nearly five years of continuous anti-terror urban warfare are providing a clearer picture of how the Israel Air Force will look and operate in the coming years. In the not-too-distant future, numerous unmanned aircraft of all sizes, operating as a single unit, will persistently patrol the skies � hunting and killing not only terrorists on the move but also mobile rocket launchers, weapon labs and illicit arms caches. At the same time, a reduced percentage of manned fighters, helicopters and special mission planes could be relegated to supporting unmanned counterterror operations while honing their ability to wage standoff, pre-emptive attacks against increasingly long-range threats. In a rare unclassified discussion here of doctrine, operational concepts and weapon system development trends, service officials and industry experts on May 30-31 painted a picture of a future force aspiring to omnipresence, omniscience and the ability to precisely deliver just the amount of force needed to destroy targets without inflicting damage on innocents nearby. In the process, officials and experts said they expected Israel�s deterrent capabilities to soar, as terrorists and terrorist-supporting countries and organizations realize they cannot hide from Israeli airpower. �The ability to strike lone terrorists, and not just buildings or locations, has already seeped into the consciousness of the other side,� said Avi Dichter, the recently retired director of Israel�s Shin Bet internal security service. Speaking at a May 31 confer-ence on the role of air power in counterterror warfare, sponsored by the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies, Dichter said Israel�s effective use of targeted killing operations � what critics assail as extrajudicial aerial assassinations � has prompted the majority of the Palestinian population and its leadership to turn away from terror as a means of achieving political goals. �Palestinian children today cannot draw a picture of the sky without a helicopter overhead. [A child] may not draw clouds, but he�ll draw helicopters. � Most have become sick and tired of seeing the sun only in photographs, and that�s thanks to the adaptation of air power for this anti-terror mission,� Dichter said. �They say big brother watches from above and that there is a god. But there is also the Israel Air Force.� Unmanned Power While the former Shin Bet chief emphasized the role of helicopters in successfully striking terrorists from the air, several current and former Air Force officers here noted the role unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) already are playing in such operations. In addition to gathering intelligence and transmitting it immediately to airborne gunships, Palestinian and foreign sources insist UAVs were used in the March 2004 assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader of the Hamas Palestinian terrorist organization, and numerous other so-called aerial liquidation operations. Although this Israeli-adapted combat UAV system has been widely reported around the world, Israel�s military censor still prohibits specific reporting on details and operational capabilities of the unmanned hunter-killer vehicle. �I don�t want to relate to the issue of whether it was or wasn�t a UAV,� Col. Ofer Haruvi, a former head of the Israel Air Force�s UAV Department, told conference participants after showing a television news clip citing sources attributing a Gaza Strip operation to UAV-launched missiles. �But the more important question is: How can we extend such pinpoint capabilities to a more global solution for fighting terror?� In his presentation, Haruvi, now director of the NetCentric Warfare Center at Israel Aircraft Industries, said Israel and other nations are constantly shifting the air power balance toward unmanned rather than manned aircraft, as a means of ensuring optimum operational efficiency. �We want to be there all the time in order to see every event. We need to collect all the information from a wide variety of sensors so that in the end, we�ll be able to say with certainty that we can employ air strikes [through unmanned means],� Haruvi said. In his notional future force structure, Haruvi said he envisioned a blend of platforms, from the relatively small tactical UAVs now used by the service to very large, long-endurance systems that could weigh nearly 5,000 kilograms and carry payloads of more than 1,000 kilograms. Underlying this concept of an expanded, all-capable unmanned force, Haruvi said, is the requirement that all aircraft be integrated through a command-and-control system that supports the same mission. �It shouldn�t matter who operates the shooters ... Tens of platforms should be above the area performing multiple functions, and the command and control must be designed to ensure that the mission is accomplished according to the specific capabilities, timing and location of a particular platform at a particular time,� Haruvi said. In order to more tightly close the so-called sensor-to-shooter loop for urban aerial strikes, Haruvi said weapons developers will have to offer smaller, more lightweight air-to-ground systems without sacrificing precision capabilities. An �End-to-End Solution� Avi Galor, corporate vice president for research and development at Rafael Armament Development Authority, told conference participants that the firm was striving not only for smaller weaponry, but also for enhanced precision in future urban anti-terror operations. �A circular error of probability of three to four meters is no longer acceptable. Now we have to strike them between the eyes,� Galor said. �Otherwise, the damage we�ll bring upon ourselves due to an unsuccessful operation will be very grave.� In addition to pursuing miniaturized, increasingly precise weaponry, Galor said, Rafael is focusing on energy weapons, including high-energy lasers and high-powered microwaves for broadband jamming. He also noted that the firm was not neglecting the realm of nonlethal weaponry, which could become increasingly critical for future urban missions. �We can�t even imagine how the threat will change,� Galor said. �We�re investing tremendous resources here in Israel and also in the world to be able to adapt our capabilities to changing threats.� In the realm of intelligence-gathering sensors, industry executives highlighted the need to eventually fuse the gamut of radar, laser and electro-optical capabilities with signals collection and other means. Eventually, Israeli planners aspire to integrate the instantaneous, all-weather fidelity of synthetic aperture radar with hyperspectral imagery that provides an added dimension of detection through the differentiation of hundreds of bands of color hidden in optical spectrum wavelengths. �When you combine all these capabilities together, you get a very relevant end-to-end solution,� noted Israel Livnat, president of Elta Systems. He specifically highlighted the role of synthetic aperture radar in identifying and acquiring moving ground targets as an essential ingredient for urban, anti-terror operations. Gabi Sarusi, vice president for business and technology development and chief scientist at Israel�s Elop Electro-Optics Industries, cited the benefits of laser radars for three-dimensional mapping of potential targets. As for hyperspectral imaging, Sarusi said capabilities exist and need to be tailored more closely to specific military mission needs. �Ultimately, we�re all striving to close the loop through absolute information superiority, enhanced precision strike capabilities and the ability to wage constant, persistent operations,� said Gideon Sheffer, a former director of Israel Air Force operations who now serves as corporate vice president for strategic planning at Elbit Systems. When asked about the growing expectations for unmanned air operations, and whether UAVs ultimately will dominate the service�s force structure, Sheffer replied: �It�s obvious that the unmanned elements of our air arm will grow, since many of the missions that were naturally performed by manned aircraft in the past are transitioning to UAVs. But you have to distinguish between urban, counterterror operations and other key missions entrusted to the Air Force. While we need to be more versatile and capable of rapidly adapting to changing mission requirements, there will always remain a primary role for manned air power. �We could reach a point in the future where half of our force structure consists of UAVs. But it will never get to 60 percent.� . E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
