TEL AVIV: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, still trying to form a new government, said Israel must increase its defense spending by “many billions immediately and then many billions every year” as the threat from Iran “has intensified in recent weeks. Israel, he said yesterday, faces a significantly growing threat from Iran. The Israeli military recently attacked…
By Arie Egozi“Last year 78 percent of the IAF’s operational flight hours were performed by UAS. This year the number jumped and is 80 percent,” Lt. Col. S. told me at the Tel-Nof Air Force base, where the largest Israeli drone, the Heron-TP flies from. Breaking Defense was granted exclusive access to the White Eagle squadron there.
By Arie Egozi“The US is doing far more than its allies in coming to grips with causing civilian harm,” a human rights NGO representative who has met with Pentagon leaders said. Still, the gap between government estimates and those from groups on the ground is often wide.
By Paul McLearyThe U.S. has 156 bombers today. But the Air Force is committed to boasting 386 squadrons, up 75 from its total today. “Certainly,” Gen. Timothy Ray said, “that means good growth for the bombers.”
By Colin ClarkIsraeli intelligence has been following the shipments from Iran, watching Iranian operatives from the time they crossed to border and, at the right moment, attacked them. Cargo unloaded from Iranian cargo planes in Syria that landed in Damascus was destroyed only minutes after leaving the airport.
By Arie EgoziIsrael initially jammed all communications between the drone operators and their weapons and then bombed the facility on the night of Aug. 24, Israeli sources say.
By Arie EgoziAs a first step, Kochavi wants to increase the capabilities of the IDF’s “Spearhead” units – the special units that hit fast and strong. This part of the plan explains the urgent need for a replacement for the old CH-53 of the Israeli Air Force, as well as for the Bell-Boeing V-22.
By Arie EgoziNew reports emerge of Israeli strikes in Iraq, as a prominent Senator (and Trump ally) pushes a new security pact between Washington and Jerusalem.
By Arie Egozi and Paul McLearyAn Israeli expert said that the critical question is, where will the Turks deploy the Russian system. “If it is deployed near the border with Syria it may endanger air forces that will attack Iranian controlled militias in Iraq,” the Israeli source says.
By Arie EgoziTEL AVIV: Even as Mideast tensions escalate, with new Israeli strikes on Syria over the weekend and Iran exceeding international limits on enriched uranium, no less a figure than the director of Mossad sees a historic opportunity for peace. Why? Because Iran’s escalating aggression — especially attacks on its neighbors’ economic lifeline, oil exports —…
By Arie EgoziThe answer may lie in the limits of Russian electronic warfare, which — while far more potent than US military EW — still relies on raw power more than precise targeting. It may also show the weakness of the warm relationship Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cultivated with Vladimir Putin, which could run aground on Russia’s increasing support for Iran.
By Arie EgoziIsraeli sources expressed alarm that neither Israel, the US, nor allied Arab nations picked up any advance warning of what appear to have been well-planned, well-executed, and increasingly destructive attacks by Iranian and proxy forces.
By Arie EgoziTEL AVIV: As the Middle Eastern kettle boils hotter, Israel is striving to improve the readiness and efficiency of its forces with regional exercises aimed, in part, at building de facto regional alliances. Syrian news agencies are reporting another air attack on the Russian-aligned country on June 12. According to Syrian news agencies, the…
By Arie Egozi