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Israel to Double Maritime Iron Dome Batteries to Deter Hezbollah

The Israeli navy will add an extra Iron Dome battery to each of its four new surface ships in order to guard its natural gas fields from Hezbollah, Defense News reported Tuesday.

A senior naval officer explained that due to Hezbollah’s growing arsenal of 122mm Grad-type rockets and longer-range weapons systems, Israel will double the number of Iron Dome batteries on its Sa’ar-6 class corvettes, which are currently being built in Germany by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

The officer told Defense News that the Iron Dome batteries will be armed with 20 Tamir interceptor missiles to protect against attacks by inexpensive shore-based rockets. The ships will also include the Barak-8 anti-missile systems to repel attacks by more sophisticated weaponry, such as the “supersonic, anti-ship P800 Yakhont cruise missile.”

Both weapons systems will be guided by ELM-2248 Adir, a sophisticated radar system made by Elta Systems, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries.

Hezbollah’s improving tactical and weapons capabilities have raised concerns among Israeli officials that the terrorist group is gearing up for a future war, and could try to infiltrate Israeli territory either by land or sea.

Brig. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Nuriel, formerly the head of Israel’s Counter-Terrorism bureau, warned last week that Hezbollah is attempting to acquire game-changing weapons in anticipation of launching another war against Israel. These weapons include Scud-D warheads, as well as air defense systems including the SA-8, SA-14 and SA-18. These systems would give Hezbollah “an umbrella of protection,” Nuriel said. He added that the terrorist group is also looking for a chemical weapons system, which could be used tactically against Israel or as a deterrent.

Hezbollah’s growing military capabilities have been an Israeli concern for years. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah admitted last June that “Hezbollah’s budget, its income, its expenses, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons and rockets, are from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” and insisted that his group “will not be affected” by American sanctions on Iran. “As long as Iran has money, we have money… Just as we receive the rockets that we use to threaten Israel, we are receiving our money. No law will prevent us from receiving it,” he declared.

Nasrallah’s acknowledgement of Iranian aid seems to confirm a public assurance given to him in August 2015 by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, that the nuclear deal Iran reached with global powers presented “a historic opportunity” to confront Israel. Iran announced in June that its defense spending would increase by 90 percent in the following year.

According to a July 2016 report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Israeli officials believe that any future war with Hezbollah has the potential to cause “thousands of civilian deaths” in Israel. Hezbollah has, among other things, threatened to attack ammonium tanks in Haifa, which could kill tens of thousands of people.

[Photo: The Times of Israel / YouTube ]