US Military Team in Israel Reported Safe Despite Attacks

[rossana <rossana at comodinoposta.org>]

Un esempio di funzionamento di Eucom e di città controllata con sistema 
di posizionamento globale (GPS)

Israel Aerospace Industries' Command and Control System Installed in 
Urban Situation Room in Ashkelon
http://www.iai.co.il/Default.aspx?docID=39063&FolderID=32981&lang=EN
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-bombing-ashkelon-is-the-most-tragic-irony-1216228.html

WASHINGTON: About 100 U.S. European Command soldiers, airmen and Marines 
deployed to Israel to help set up an early warning radar system reported 
no close encounters with air strikes or retaliatory attacks along the 
Gaza Strip, a Eucom spokesman said.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas refused to renew a ceasefire 
agreement with Israel when it expired Dec. 19, and began stepping up 
rocket attacks on civilian targets in Israel. Israel, in turn, began 
launching airstrikes against Gaza Strip targets Dec. 27 in an effort to 
eliminate Hamas’ ability to fire rockets into Israeli territory.

Air Force Lt. Col. John Dorrian confirmed Stars and Stripes’ report that 
the Eucom team is operating on an Israeli air base nowhere near the 
targeted areas.

The Eucom troops deployed to Israel to help set up an Army/Navy 
Transportable Radar Surveillance system, Dorrian confirmed. The Israeli 
government requested the system to help defend against a potential 
missile attack from Iran.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates signed off on the deployment order in 
mid-September, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell confirmed during a 
Sept. 30 news conference.

Once fully operational, the system will be capable of tracking and 
identifying small objects at long distance and at very high altitude, 
including space, according to U.S. Missile Defense Agency officials. It 
also will integrate Israel’s missile defenses with the U.S. global 
missile detection network.

“This will enable the Israelis to track medium- and long-range ballistic 
missiles multiple times better than their current radar allows them to,” 
Morrell said. “It will … more than double the range of Israel's missile 
defense radars and increase its available engagement time.”

This, he said, will greatly enhance Israel’s defensive capabilities. 
“There is a growing ballistic missile threat in the region, particularly 
from Iran,” Morrell said. “And no one in the region should feel more 
nervous about that threat than the Israelis. And they clearly do, and 
they have asked for our assistance. And we have now provided it in the 
form of this … X-band radar equipment.”

About 120 U.S. servicemembers initially deployed to Israel to set up the 
system, a number Dorrian said is now down to about 100.

Morrell estimated that the system will take about half that many U.S. 
personnel to operate once it is up and running. “This is and will remain 
a U.S. radar system,” he said. “This is not something we are giving or 
selling to the Israelis.”

The system, he said, is another sign of U.S. commitment to Israel. “We 
are committed to the Israelis, to Israel’s defense,” Morrell said.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern about 
escalating violence in Gaza. “We strongly condemn the repeated rocket 
and mortar attacks against Israel and hold Hamas responsible for 
breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence there,” Rice said 
in a statement. “The ceasefire must be restored immediately and fully 
respected. The United States calls on all concerned to protect innocent 
lives and to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza.”

http://www.eucom.mil/english/FullStory.asp?art=1915