Saar 5 Eilat Class
(click to view full)

With the situation of war-by-proxy heating up in Lebanon and Gaza, DID thought our readers might be interested in some of the military technologies being featured.

Back in April 2005, DID published “Hezbollah Mirsad-1 UAV Penetrates Israeli Air Defenses.” The attack on the INS Ahi-Hanit, a Saar-5 Eilat Class Corvette, was originally alleged to have been a kamikaze UAV strike. As Situational Awareness notes, subsequent reports indicate that a C-802 anti-ship missile may have been responsible. DebkaFile offers some speculations re: why the missile successfully struck the corvette, which is equipped with defensive systems. Note that they are speculations/ rumors. Defense Update is based in Israel, and their attached blog adds rumors of a two-missile “high-low” attack pattern from IDF sources.

THEL/Skyguard concept

DefenseTech also discusses select items in Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal, while Defense Update offers a more in-depth roundup, plus a summary of Israeli air strikes during July 12-16.

As these locally-made and Iranian-supplied rockets rain down on Israel courtesy of Hezbollah and their allies, DefenseTech also looks at the joint THEL/Skyguard laser defense project, which was recently unveiled by Northrop-Grumman. For immediate use, however, another option suggests itself – modified Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS ship-defense guns, whose land-based uses were covered by DID back in June 2005.