The Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, asked Washington to purchase Vulcan Phalanx systems, worth $25 million each, to protect against militant fire from the Gaza Strip.
Barak said that the Vulcan-Phalanx canons and radar will be part of a multi-layer defence to intercept rockets.
Raytheon, a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in defense systems, recently tested a new version fitted with a solid-state Laser Area Defense System (LADS). It outdid expectations by intercepting 60mm mortar shells fired from a distance of 450 meters. Israel's Red Color warning system works for missiles only - not mortar attack.
Previous requests by Israel to buy the Vulcan-Phalanx have been waved aside by the US defence establishment, which has used the system with success in Iraq and Afghanistan and has reserved for its own military all units to be produced in the near future, it said.
During his planned June visit to the United States, Barak will ask US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to put Israel at the top of the list for the system, with the hope of securing at least one by the winter.
© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
