What Is Site 911? And Why Is The U.S. Building It For Israel At A Cost Of $100 Million?

U.S. overseeing mysterious construction project in Israel

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to supervise construction of a five-story underground facility for an Israel Defense Forces complex, oddly named “Site 911,” at an Israeli Air Force base near Tel Aviv.

Expected to take more than two years to build, at a cost of up to $100 million, the facility is to have classrooms on Level 1, an auditorium on Level 3, a laboratory, shock-resistant doors, protection from nonionizing radiation and very tight security. Clearances will be required for all construction workers, guards will be at the fence and barriers will separate it from the rest of the base.

Only U.S. construction firms are being allowed to bid on the contract and proposals are due Dec. 3, according to the latest Corps of Engineers notice.
Site 911 is the latest in a long history of military construction projects the United States has undertaken for the IDF under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program. The 1998 Wye River Memorandum between Israel and the Palestinian Authority has led to about $500 million in U.S. construction of military facilities for the Israelis, most of them initially in an undeveloped part of the Negev Desert. It was done to ensure there were bases to which IDF forces stationed in the West Bank could be redeployed.
As recorded in the Corps’ European District magazine, called Engineering in Europe, three bases were built to support 20,000 troops, and eventually the Israeli air force moved into the same area, creating Nevatim air base. A new runway, 2.5 miles long, was built there by the Corps along with about 100 new buildings and 10 miles of roads.
Over the years, the Corps has built underground hangers for Israeli fighter-bombers, facilities for handling nuclear weapons (though Israel does not admit having such weapons), command centers, training bases, intelligence facilities and simulators, according to Corps publications.
Within the past two years the Corps, which has three offices in Israel, completed a $30 million set of hangars at Nevatim, which the magazine describes as a “former small desert outpost that has grown to be one of the largest and most modern air bases in the country.” It has also supervised a $20 million project to build maintenance shops, hangars and headquarters to support Israel’s large Eitan unmanned aerial vehicle.
Site 911, which will be built at another base, appears to be one of the largest projects. Each of the first three underground floors is to be roughly 41,000 square feet, according to the Corps notice. The lower two floors are much smaller and hold equipment.

Israel’s Antimissile System Attracts Potential Buyers

The success cited by Israel for its Iron Dome antimissile system in its confrontation with Hamas has re-energized American missile defense advocates and generated new interest in the global arms bazaar from nations like South Korea that face short-range rocket threats from hostile neighbors.

But even ardent supporters of a continent-size missile shield to guard the United States and other NATO members acknowledge the limitations of Iron Dome, which is a tactical system designed to shoot down unsophisticated rockets — basically flying pipe bombs — with a range of less than 50 miles.

Some American technical experts also say they want hard evidence before judging whether Iron Dome knocked out as many rockets as Israel has claimed. Iron Dome’s most salient feature, according to American experts now examining after-action reports from Gaza, may well be its software: The system rapidly discriminates between incoming rockets that are hurtling toward a populated area and others not worth expending a far costlier Iron Dome interceptor to knock down.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas focused global attention on missile defenses, and came as the United States and its Arab allies have undertaken a costly effort to knit together a regional shield in the Persian Gulf to protect cities, oil refineries, pipelines and military bases from a potential Iranian attack.

“This will ratify the common-sense notion that these systems can play a role in defending you,” said Eric S. Edelman, a former under secretary of defense for policy in the George W. Bush administration. “It will be especially relevant as we move into an era in which there will be more countries with small inventories of rockets and missiles — and more countries that will want to defend against them in a reasonable way.”

Hezbollah drone may have been sent to monitor Israel’s nuclear facility at Dimona

A drone aircraft that entered Israeli airspace earlier this week was apparently on a mission to take pictures of the Dimona nuclear research center in southern Israel, Israeli officials confirmed Friday.
What the aircraft managed to learn and whether it transmitted its observations to a remote facility was not immediately known. Israeli officials have said the aircraft was launched from southern Lebanon and was shot down “some time” after it entered Israeli air space. Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia, says that its technicians assembled the aircraft from parts provided by Iran.
“This was a crude device, but it was a drone with all the capabilities that unmanned aerial crafts offer, and for that reason it is worrying,” an Israeli military official told McClatchy under the condition that he not be identified because he was not authorized to discuss sensitive information with a reporter. “We are studying the drone now to learn more about what it accomplished and what Hezbollah intended with it.”
The drone was the third unmanned aircraft Hezbollah has dispatched over Israel. Israeli officials said it was the most sophisticated to date. According to the initial account of its downing, the aircraft entered Israeli airspace from the Mediterranean and traveled about 35 miles before it was shot down. Dimona, where Israel is believed to assemble its nuclear weapons, is about 45 miles from the Israeli coast.
Whatever its mission and capabilities, the drone marked another escalation in Israel’s conflict with Iran over Iran’s nuclear program. Israel believes Iran is attempting to build a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies, and has threatened to bomb that country’s nuclear facilities to prevent it from developing the technology to build one.
Whether Iran would contemplate attacking Dimona in response to Israeli actions is unknown, but at a minimum, the presence of an Iranian drone near the Dimona nuclear facility would seem to be a taunt that whatever Israel might do, Iran is capable of doing as well.
Hasan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, proudly claimed the downed aircraft in a speech Thursday. “It is our right to send other drones whenever we want,” he said. “It was not the first time and it will not be the last.”

Plasan Troop Seat

Israeli firm Plasan Sasa had many products, including a vehicle seat combat resistant to the effects of IED (Improvised Explosive Devices).

The seat has a 5 point harness clamps. It dampens the effects of "blast" and reduces side impact. The head support is height-adjustable. The backrest tilts forward to allow access for equipment placed behind it.

Israeli Female Soldiers Show Their Stuff In Recent Border Clash With Militants

Female Israeli Soldiers Are Proving Themselves In Combat

Last Friday, Caracel, the Israeli military's only mixed-gender combat battalion, won a shootout against forces on the border with Egypt. Israeli officals said three gunmen on the Egyptian side were killed, one by a female soldier, according to the Associated Press. Israel created Caracel in 2000, to integrate women into combat duty. Although it is a combat battalion, its main responsibility has been defeating drug smugglers at the borders with Jordan and Egypt. Until the ousting of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak last year, it was a pretty simple gig. So simple, in fact, it was claimed that the male soldiers in Caracal weren't strong enough to be in a regular, all-male combat unit.
In the States, military leaders are finally realizing what female soldiers can do. This July, the Christian Science Monitor reported that the U.S. military was going to open combat arms positions to female troops. Which on paper is a major step. But women have unofficially been in combat for years, whether they dressed as men to get to fight in the Civil War, or drove supply convoys down Iraqi roads littered with improvised explosive devices.
In the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, wars without typical front lines, Lt. col. Tammy Duckworth lost her legs when the Black Hawk she was piloting was shot down over the Sunni Triangle in 2004. Spc. Monica Lin Brown, a medic, was awarded a Silver Star for running through gunfire to get to her battle buddies while deployed to Afghanistan in 2007. She was attached to an infantry unit; they

Israeli air force re-engining Hermes 450 fleet

An effort is being made to decrease the noise emitted by engines used by the Israeli air force's unmanned air systems. The need stems from the heavier payloads carried by the aircraft, which demand using their engines in high power mode.

The noise footprint of some Elbit Systems Hermes 450 unmanned air vehicles has been decreased via a re-engining effort which is now under way. New UAS of this type are already equipped with more powerful and quieter engines.
In addition to expanding the range of missions that can be performed due to its reduced noise output, the new R902 (W) "Wankel" technology engine being integrated with the Hermes 450 also enables the tactical UAS to achieve an improved endurance of more than 20h.

Israel's Arrow-3 missile-killer nears test

Amid growing fears Israeli leaders are preparing a pre-emptive attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, defense sources say the Arrow-3 interceptor, seen as Israel's ace in the hole against Tehran's ballistic missiles, is close to its first flight test.
The two-stage missile being developed by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries and the Boeing Co. of the United States will be Israel's main line of defense against Iran's growing arsenal of immediate-range Shehab-3 missiles and the more advanced Sejjil-2 weapons under development.
The upcoming test-firing, delayed for about a year, will take place against a backdrop of growing threats of retaliation by Tehran if Israel, or even the United States currently locked in its own confrontation with Iran in the Persian Gulf, attacks the Islamic Republic.
The Arrow-3, the most advanced component of a multilayered missile defense shield the Israelis are building, will take place "soon," says Itzhak Kaya, who heads the Arrow program.
This will be the first test of all the Arrow-3 systems. Subsystems have already been tested.
The second stage has its own propulsion unit that enables it to maneuver toward its target. It can reach twice the altitude of Arrow-2.

Ex-ambassador to Israel: U.S. will go to war with Iran in 2013

Former Ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, offered a dire prediction of a U.S. confrontation with Iran, saying it could escalate into war as early as next year.
"I'm afraid that 2013 is going to be a year in which we're going to have a military confrontation with Iran," he said Sunday on "Face the Nation."
Indyk joined a roundtable of foreign policy experts to discuss the latest protests in the Middle East and Israel's public statements pressuring the United States over Iran.
The former ambassador said the time has not come, yet, that the U.S. needs to take military action. "Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon," he said. [W]hile there's still time, there's not a lot of time."
As for the public dispute between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama over Iran, Indyk said he doesn't think "the difference between Netanyahu and Obama on this is that great, in terms of the President's commitment not to allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons."
On Israel's insistence that the U.S. publicly declare a "red line" that Iran is not permitted to cross, Indyk said "that is an unreasonable requirement. The idea of putting out a public red line - in effect issuing an ultimatum - is something that no president would do. If you noticed, Governor Romney is not putting out a red line; Senator McCain didn't, either. And neither is Bibi Netanyahu for that matter, in terms of Israel's own actions."

Female Soldiers of Israel Defense Forces's Karakal Combat Unit

 Female Soldiers of  Israel Defense Forces's Karakal Combat Unit

Israeli Female Soldiers Ready for Leisure And War

                                        Israeli Female Soldiers Ready for Leisure And War

Israel threatens to block US aid to Egypt to stop German submarine deal

Israel has threatened to use its considerable influence over US foreign policy to block Egypt's purchase of two submarines from Germany. According to German press reports, Israel intends to prevent Egypt from buying two Class 209 submarines. Bild newspaper quoted Israeli diplomats as saying that Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi must first show that he can be trusted before such deals can be allowed. They were speaking during the visit of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to Israel.
"If this does not happen," said the unnamed sources, "Israel will use its influence in the United States to cut American aid to Egypt." They argued that it is unreasonable for the Egyptian government to appeal to

Israel think of launching an electromagnetic pulse on Iran

Israel would consider launching an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) on Iran to cripple all of its transport networks and communications, and thereby stop the development of its nuclear program, said Sunday the Sunday Times.

The newspaper quoted an American expert on defense issues that Bill Gertz, August 29, in his column on the conservative website video The Washington Free Beacon, expressed "growing concerns" reported by the U.S. Secret Service "on the trigger by Israel of a strike on Iran with a high-altitude nuclear explosion intended to disrupt all electronic devices in the country. "

Recently, an American author, Joe Tuzara wrote in the Israeli newspaper right Israel National News that the acceleration of the development of nuclear weapons by Iran could trigger a preemptive attack Israel's IEM. "The explosion would not create nor breath nor radiation on the ground, but the food supply will dry up and become almost impossible communications, leading to an economic collapse," he wrote.

Iran: Scenarios of striking Israel

The question of using force to halt the progress of the Iranian nuclear bomb has not yet been decided by the Israeli leaders. If the head of the government, Netanyahu and his defense minister, Ehud Barak, are for many voices - generals, former intelligence chiefs, intellectuals, President Shimon Peres - warned against the consequences of intervention. "It is impossible to consider that managers can take such a decision without a minimum consensus among the political class and the security cabinet," says Bruno Tertrais, expert from the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS).

Every day that passes brings us closer to this possibility, however. The diplomatic process is almost at an end: the negotiations were "killed" by the unwillingness Iranian sanctions were almost to maximum.Mixture of computer viruses and targeted assassinations of scientists, covert action program has slowed, but not enough. The latest report from the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, released in late August, has determined that Iran had doubled the number of centrifuges at Fordow , a site buried under a mountain near Qom, the shelter, therefore, possible air raids. "The Iranians have made ​​no effort, no concession. They give ammunition to those who want to move up a gear, "says a source close to the matter.

Soon, the Iranians will be able to transform their uranium to 20% highly enriched uranium to 90% and make several nuclear warheads. The "zone of immunity" beyond which facilities and activities will be critical strikes more vulnerable to Western, especially because they have been buried, is approaching. "If the Israelis allow this limit to be exceeded, it depends entirely on the United States for their security. What they can afford, "said a European diplomat. Hence the temptation to hit, damage to which can be and still get a reprieve that could go up to two years. A break long enough to look for new solutions, hoping that in the meantime the Iranian regime, which sees the Jewish state as a "cancerous tumor" to eradicate, have changed.

Iran's Ahmadinejad says no place for Israel in new Middle East

DUBAI (Reuters) - Many thousands of Iranians shouted "Death to America, death to Israel" during state-organized protests on Friday and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told them there was no place for the Jewish state in a future Middle East.

Iran, penalized by tough Western sanctions, faces the threat of an Israeli or U.S. military strike on its disputed nuclear facilities. With popular uprisings reshaping the region, the Islamic Republic is also trying to prevent the overthrow of its closest Arab ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"You want a new Middle East? We do too, but in the new Middle East ... there will be no trace of the American presence and the Zionists," Ahmadinejad told worshippers at Tehran University in an event broadcast live on state television.

The Iranian leader, whose own authority is under challenge from hardliners as well as reformers, was restating Tehran's familiar goals as the Middle East undergoes a very different upheaval from the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah and brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power.

Hezbollah says can kill tens of thousands of Israelis

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah said on Friday it could kill tens of thousands of Israelis by hitting targets with what it described as precision-guided missiles in a declaration that seemed aimed at deterring Israeli strikes on Lebanon or its regional backer Iran.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his group could turn the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis "to real hell" by hitting a small number of number of targets which he said was "not large" - a possible reference to nuclear facilities, though Nasrallah would not go into details.

"During any stage of an attack on our country, if we are forced to use or target this type of target, to protect our people and country, we will not hesitate," he said.

Iran: Israel's Zionist regime 'an insult to humanity'

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hits out at Israel amid growing tensions over its uranium-enrichment programme

 Israel's existence is an "insult to all humanity", Iran's president has said in his latest attack on the Jewish state.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said confronting Israel was an attempt to "protect the dignity of all human beings" as "the existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to all humanity".
He was addressing worshippers at Tehran University after nationwide pro-Palestinian rallies marking al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.
Israel considers Iran an existential threat because of its nuclear and missile programmes, support for radical anti-Israel groups on its borders and repeated references to Israel's destruction. Ahmadinejad has frequently made such calls, as has Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran has denied it is seeking to build nuclear weapons, saying its programme is peaceful and aimed at producing electricity and radioisotopes to treat cancer patients.

Israeli Women Turning Away From Combat Duty

Over the last few years Israel has had problems maintaining the strength of its only female infantry battalion and female combat jobs in general. Currently 1.6 percent of Israeli combat jobs are filled by women. The army wants to increase that to two percent and to that end is staffing the new Iron Dome anti-missile units with women. Israeli law forbids sending women into combat but does allow for giving them jobs that might lead to combat situations. Over the last few years fewer women have volunteered for combat jobs. So the military is experimenting with new screening and training methods, to address common complaints among women inclined to volunteer for these jobs. So far these efforts have led to a 15 percent increase in volunteers but more are needed. Part of the problem is that a growing proportion of potential recruits are young men and women from ultra-orthodox Jewish families. The men are exempt from conscription and the women usually marry early. This exemption is under heavy political attack by the majority of Israelis but so far the exemption stands.

Can Israel Fight A Long War Against Iran?

 For Israel to carry out a long-threatened strike on Iranian nuclear sites, it would have to overcome dissent within its governing coalition reflecting public fear of igniting an unprecedented missile war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that scenario would be "dwarfed" by the prospect of an Iranian bomb, which he describes as tantamount to a second Holocaust - language that seems to herald a Jewish call to arms.
But the popular, conservative leader has not proven very persuasive. While surveys show a growing minority - now 32-35 percent - of Israelis favor taking Iran on alone, more are opposed. Around a quarter are undecided.
Some commentators ask whether a Jewish state shaped through decades of war has become more fearful of the consequences in the face of Iran, a formidable and distant foe capable, along with Islamist guerrilla allies in Lebanon and Gaza, of raining down thousands of missiles and rockets in retaliation.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak estimates 500 Israelis would die should a strike on Iran, which denies seeking to develop nuclear weaponry, turn into a regional exchange of fire.

Does Israel Want To Attack Iran Before The U.S. Presidential Election?

Israel’s prime minister and defence minister would like to attack Iran’s nuclear sites before the U.S. election in November but lack crucial support within their cabinet and military, an Israeli newspaper said on Friday.
The front-page report in the biggest-selling daily Yedioth Ahronoth came amid mounting speculation — fuelled by media leaks from both the government and its detractors at home and abroad — that war with Iran could be imminent even though it might rupture the bedrock ties between Israel and the United States.

The Saudis Warn Israel They Will Shoot Down Any Jets Using Its Airspace For A Strike On Iran

Israel has only a handful of flight paths it can use to bomb Iran's alleged nuclear sites, and one of those is off the table after Saudi Arabia vowed to take down any Israeli jet flying its airspace.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reports the message was passed through senior U.S. officials in Jerusalem and came straight from Riyadh.
The paper also reports that Israeli officials firmly believe the threat is part of an American plan to thwart a lone Israeli strike, and the the U.S. could certainly persuade the Saudis to open their airspace if it chose to do so.
Regardless, military experts have been saying for months an Israeli air strike would be a very elaborate affair involving more than 100 planes, from jets to re-fueling tankers, over 1,000 miles to strike eight Iranian targets.

Israel warns of Iranian terrorists’ attack on London Olympics

 London—Israeli officials have warned that an Iranian terror squad in Europe may be planning to attack its athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games, sparking the largest security operation in peacetime Britain, British media reported on Sunday.

According to a report by the Sunday Times, more than 17,000 troops and 7,000 private security guards will secure the Olympic Park and 26 other venues, and an additional 12,500 police will be deployed to patrol London’s streets in a “series of ‘rings of steel.’”

The Sunday Times reports further that “panic rooms have been installed beneath the stadium as a haven for VIPs and spectators in the event of an attack.” MI5 and New Scotland Yard are reportedly thought to have raised their threat assessment in light of the terrorist attack in Bulgaria on Wednesday that killed 5 Israelis, the bus driver and a suicide bomber. In addition, the Sunday Times reports, the Israeli government has dispatched agents from the Shin Bet and Mossad to protect its 38-strong delegation.