ISRAEL: Practice and preparation for a possible chemical or biological attack by Iraq they develop their own anti-missile system

Record ID: 397867

  • Title: ISRAEL: Practice and preparation for a possible chemical or biological attack by Iraq they develop their own anti-missile system
  • Date: 6th October 2002
  • Summary: (L!1) NEAR ASHKELON, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS: ARROW ANTI-MISSILE MISSILE TESTING: (5 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TEL AVIV, NEAR TEL AVIV, NEAR ASHKELON AND HERZLIYA, ISRAEL
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA949GWU6TWND3F5QYNJYQ1IDSX
  • Story Text: As the threat of a U.S. military offensive against Baghdad looms, Israelis have been bracing for a possible retaliatory biological or chemical attack by Iraq.
    In the 1991 Gulf War, Baghdad responded to the U.S.-led military campaign on Iraq by launching dozens of Scud missiles at Israeli cities. The missiles were not armed with chemical or biological warheads, as Israel had feared, and only one Israeli died of suffocation in his gas mask during the rocket strikes.
    This time, as the drums of war beat ever louder, Israel is assuming the worst and has been preparing to deal with chemical or biological attack.
    One factory manufacturing gas masks has been operating on triple shifts and 24-hour production to keep up with the sudden increase in demand. In northern Israel, emergency fire and medical crews in NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) warfare suits have been carrying out simulation drills in case of an attack.
    But it is the Arrow missile which will be Israel's real line of defence if Iraq responds to a U.S. attack by firing Scuds.
    In 1991, Israel had high hopes that the U.S.-engineered Patriot missile, an anti-aircraft system adapted to shoot down ballistic missiles, would protect them from the Iraqi Scuds.
    But the Patriots failed miserably to intercept and destroy the Scuds, partly because when the Iraqi missiles re-entered the atmosphere they did not maintain the expected trajectory and weaved through the air instead.
    The secret of the Arrow's effectiveness is that it blows up near the incoming missile and disables it, instead of trying to hit the target directly.
    The home-grown Arrow began as an Israeli demonstration model submitted to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defence Initiative, popularly known as Star Wars, during the late 1980s.
    There are already two Arrow missile batteries deployed in Israel intended to shield the entire country from missile attack. A third is due to be deployed soon.
    Ordinary Israelis are divided as to whether it has actually improved their security. Tel Aviv resident Mirav Itaz said that she had seen the Arrow on TV. "It's the...most important event," she said. "It's making me feel very safe now."
    Ira Shemesh was more cautious. "I am not afraid, not because I trust the Arrow and the missiles so much," he said.
    "I know if such a thing happens, it will be a phase and we'll all have to deal with it".
    The missile's success rate is estimated at 95 percent.
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