Navy doubles Iron Dome protection of offshore energy assets

Israel is doubling the protection of its  offshore gas rigs threatened by Hezbollah missiles.

Threats posed to Israel’s offshore gas rigs by Hezbollah’s missile arsenal have prompted Israel’s Navy to add extra missile defense systems to its warships.

Four Israeli Navy Sa’ar 6 missile ships, currently manufactured in Germany, will now be equipped with dual Iron Dome missile defense systems—as opposed to featuring a singular Iron Dome battery originally planned for each ship.

The upgrade to the ships’ defense system, a senior Israeli naval officer explained, stems from the threat posed out of Lebanon by Hezbollah’s large weapons cache of medium- and long-range missiles, including Iranian Fajr-5 missiles, M-600 rockets, Zelzal-2 missiles, short-range M75 rockets and Katyushas, Defense News reported.

A senior Israeli Air Force officer stated that the primary threat from Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal relates to the terror group’s acquisition of missiles with larger warheads capable of reaching further distances.

Israel estimates that Hezbollah’s weapons stockpile consists of more than 120,000 missiles—17 times more than the 7,000 Hezbollah possessed a decade ago, when the United Nations adopted Security Council Resolution 1701 to end the Second Lebanon War.

Iron Dome, designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells, is part of Israel’s four-tiered air defense apparatus, including the David’s Sling system, which counters medium-to-long-range rockets and missiles; the Arrow 2 short-and medium-range ballistic missile interceptor; and the Arrow 3 long-range missile interceptor, which is in the last leg of development.

By: JNS.org and World Israel News Staff