By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu1/2/2012Iran fires long-range missileIsrael news photo: IRNA Iranian news agencyIran escalated tension with the West and Israel Monday, claiming that it one of its warships successfully fired a long-range coast-to-sea “Qadr” missile that can hit Israel and the United States. The test was conducted as part of the war games.
“The missile managed to hit the desired targets with precision and totally destroy them,” according to the official Iranian government
The missile test conducted was on the last day of the 10-day war exercise, which included maneuvers for the possible closure of theStrait of Hormuz, the passageway for between 20 and 40 percent of the world’s energy needs. President Barack Obama has vowed he will not allow Iran to close the waterway.On Saturday, he also signed new sanctions against Iran and nations dealing with it, but the law including the sanctions contains a waiver allowing him to delay imposing them by giving other countries more time to break off dealing with the Central Bank of Iran and the country’s oil and gas sector.
Another official Iran news agency quoted navy spokesman Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi as saying, “From tomorrow morning (Monday), a vast majority of our naval units – surface and underwater, and aerial – will implement a new tactical formation, designed to make the passage of any vessel through the Strait of Hormuz impossible if the Islamic Republic of Iran’s navy so chooses.”
In related news:
Israel Defends against Missiles with SMS
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Israel will soon deploy a country-wide SMS messaging system that warns citizens of incoming missiles – in case they are not intercepted.
The Home Front Command conducted tests on Sunday of a text message system that will warn residents in real time, according to location, of incoming missiles and rockets.
Sunday's test was conducted in the central part of the country in four languages – Hebrew, Arabic, English and Russian.
The system was first tested during the "Turning Point 5" civil defense drill, earlier this year, when which alerts were sent to residents of a number of localities in Israel.
The Turning Point 5 drill last June involved 250 soldiers participating in a test run in the Gaza Belt area.
The test was interrupted because Partner Communications, which operates the Orange cell phone system, complained that the exercise’s alert system did not work on its Samsung C5130 phones.
The SMS system gives an early warning to residents in emergencies, including those other than incoming missiles. The new but expensive Iron Dome system also is being expanded to defend citizens against incoming missiles.
It has had a high success rate, but its drawbacks are that every city needs its own system, which is very expensive. Each missile costs approximately $100,000, while a Kassam short-range rocket costs terrorists less than $800 to assemble.
Hamas terrorists began producing Kassam missiles after the start of the Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War, 11 years ago.
The first rocket it fired had a range of only two miles, but the missiles' range has been improved, and they can now reach urban centers such as Ashkelon.
The only previous warning system that the IDF has developed is the Code Red system, a siren that is sounded after a Kassam launch is detected, giving residents of areas close to Gaza only 15 seconds to run for cover.
(c) Israel National News
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