Turkish NATO anti-missile radar to Counter Iranian Rockets, and "Turkish warships to accompany the aid vessels to besieged Gaza strip."

Erdogan: Turkish Warships to Defend Gaza Aid Vessels

Local Editor

It seems that sift between Turkey and the Zionist entity has deepened, with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vows "Turkish warships will be tasked with protecting the Turkish boats bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip," Erdogan said in an interview with Al Jazeera television. Erdogan also said his country would not allow the repetition of the last year’s Israeli raid on “Freedom Flotilla”, in which nine Turkish activists were martyred. "From now on, we will no longer allow these boats to be the targets of attacks by Israel, like the one on the Freedom flotilla, because then Israel will have to deal with an appropriate response," he warned. "Turkey will be firm on its right to control the territorial waters in the east of the Mediterranean," Erdogan added. Ankara had also "undertaken measures to prevent Israel unilaterally exploiting" the region's natural resources, he warned. Tensions went greater between the two sides after Israel refused to apologize for the deadly raid. On Tuesday, Turkey suspended all defense trade ties with the Zionist entity. As he announced the suspension, Erdogan described Israel as the “spoiled child” and hinted he would visit Gaza strip soon. Last Friday Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador in Ankara, suspended military deals and vowed a greater naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Meanwhile Turkey to Station U.S. Radar to Counter Iranian Rockets By ADAM ENTOUS Agence France-Presse/Getty Images A 2008 file photo shows a U.S. X-Band radar installation in Israel used to thwart Iranian missile threats. WASHINGTON—Turkey has agreed to station a high-powered U.S. radar on its territory as part of a missile defense system to protect NATO allies from the threat of long-range Iranian rockets. The deal for Turkey to host the so-called X-Band radar at one of its military bases accelerates deployment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-backed early warning system. The deal could also ratchet up tensions between Turkey and Iran, which sees the system as a threat. Relations between Ankara and Tehran have deteriorated in recent months, particularly over differences over how to respond to Syria's violent crackdown on antiregime demonstrations. Turkey has condemned the violence and appears to be moving increasingly toward breaking with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Iran is supporting Mr. Assad, providing him with equipment and know-how to put down the demonstrations, U.S. officials say. A senior U.S. defense official said the goal was to have the AN/TPY-2 radar in place in Turkey before the end of this year. A site has already been identified for the radar at a Turkish military installation. The senior defense official declined to identify its location. Negotiations with Turkey over hosting the radar started earlier this year and picked up pace in June. Turkey was concerned that data collected at the radar site could be shared real time with Israel. U.S. officials told their Turkish counterparts that the U.S. has a "separate and robust" missile defense relationship with Israel, where the U.S. based a high-powered X-Band radar in 2008 to bolster Israel's missile defenses. The system is identical to the radar going to Turkey. That radar can track any Iranian missile aimed at Israel. But the U.S. made clear that data from any U.S. radars around the world may be fused with other data to maximize the effectiveness of its missile defenses. The sharing of data with Israel was a sensitive political issue for Turkey. Relations between the two states have frayed over Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. The senior defense official attributed Turkey's decision to host the radar to stepped up efforts by Ankara to close ranks with NATO and improve relations with the U.S. The official playing down the impact of Syria tensions on Turkey's decision. "I don't think recent events played a role. They were heading in this direction," the official said. Turkey was one of several NATO states in talks to host the advanced X-Band radar as part of the NATO missile shield. Several Republican senators have voiced reservations with Turkey hosting the radar because of the government's refusal to share the data collected with Israel. Though the radar systems in Turkey and Israel will operate separately, the senior U.S. defense official made clear the U.S. could integrate the data. "Any U.S. radars around the world may be fused with other data to maximize the effectiveness of our missile defenses," the official said. President Barack Obama announced plans in September 2009 to integrate sea- and land-based missile defenses in and around its NATO allies in Europe in a system referred to as the "phased adaptive approach." The system slated for Turkey to protect NATO states is similar to the AN/TPY-2 radar deployed in Japan to help protect against the North Korean threat. Under the European system, data from the new radar site in Turkey will be integrated with U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system in offshore waters. Built by Raytheon Co, the system locks on to targets in their boost, midcourse and terminal phases. U.S. officials say the AN/TPY-2 system works best when the installations are arrayed along an arc around the perceived threat area. U.S. intelligence agencies have long warned about Iran's growing missile threat and officials say antiballistic missile systems should cover all of Europe by 2018.

Turkey to host NATO anti-missile radar

Advanced X-Band radar will be part of the future AMD shield.

Published: 02 September, 2011, 12:13
Edited: 02 September, 2011, 21:03

Turkey is to host an early warning system as part of NATO’s controversial anti-ballistic missile defense system in Europe. The US says the shield will protect Europe from attacks from Iran and North Korea, but Russia believes it is the real target.

The talks on the advanced AMD radar are in “their final stages,” Turkey's Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday. Few details were released, but Turkish media reports say the early warning outpost is to be deployed in the country's southeast.

According to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement on Friday, in light of the plan to locate the radar in Turkey, Moscow needs firm, legally-binding guarantees from the US and NATO that the anti-ballistic missile defense system will not target Russia’s nuclear potential.

Earlier , Moscow's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin said that, “the fact is that the United States is going on with the plan to deploy military infrastructure of the AMD system in Europe's territory, regardless of the consultations they do… with Russia.”

However, he noted that the deployment of the AMD radar in Turkey poses no serious direct threat to Russia's security.

He also said Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev may issue a joint statement on the anti-ballistic missile shield later in the autumn.

Turkey has been under consideration as one of the possible hosts for some elements of the US and NATO anti-missile system for several years. Barack Obama’s administration scrapped Bush-era plans which saw the Czech Republic and Poland as the host countries for the AMD bases, and said the whole concept would be revised.

The revision was welcomed by Moscow, which believed that the planned shield would compromise its national security. The move was an important part of the diplomatic thaw sponsored by Presidents Medvedev and Obama, also known as the “reset of relations” between the two countries.

Russia wanted to build a joint system, which would use NATO and Russian capabilities to defend against a possible attack, but would not be out of Moscow's control. However the revised AMD plans failed to address Russia's concerns, with Moscow continuing to view the current plan for the European anti-missile system with suspicion.

NATO approved the new concept at a summit in Lisbon last year. Turkey says its participation in the system would strengthen both NATO and Turkey's own defense capacities.

Meanwhile, the latest test of the new SM-3 IB ballistic missile killer, a key element of the AMD, ended in failure on Thursday, the US Missile Defense Agency reported. The interceptor was fired from the Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie in the Pacific Ocean, but did not destroy its target, a short-range ballistic missile launched from Hawaii 925 kilometers away.

SM-3 is a naval interceptor. Its ground-based version, which is to be used in the European shield, is yet to be developed.

US deploys X-band radar in Israel

Defense News is reporting that as promised, the United States has deployed the FBX-T radar system - popularly known as the X-band - at the Nevatim air base in southern Israel. And as promised, it's an American deployment under American control, just like in Japan.

The Raytheon-built FBX-T system is the same phased-array radar that was deployed to northern Japan with the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) in 2006. The high-powered, high-frequency, transportable X-band radar is designed to detect and track ballistic missiles soon after launch.

Its ancillary gear included cooling systems, generators, perimeter defense weaponry, logistics supplies and dozens of technicians, maintenance specialists and security forces to operate and defend the U.S. installation.

EUCOM has repeatedly deployed troops and Patriot air defense batteries for joint exercises and Iraq-related wartime contingencies, but has never before permanently deployed troops on Israeli soil.

A EUCOM spokesman declined to comment. MDA officials referred to the U.S. State Department, which did not provide comment by press time.

An Israeli military spokesman said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) enjoys longstanding strategic cooperation with all branches of the U.S. military.

"This cooperation is varied and comes in multiple forms, and it is not our practice to discuss details of our bilateral activities," he said.

Nevertheless, in previous interviews, U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed that the X-band deployment plan was approved in July, first by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his Israeli counterpart, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi; and then by. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

This system is a key element in Israel's defenses against Iran. Here's why.

The radar will be linked to the U.S. Joint Tactical Ground Station (JTAGS), which receives and processes threat data transmitted by U.S. Defense Support System satellites. According to U.S. and Israeli sources, JTAGS will remain in Europe, but its essential cueing data will stream into the forward-deployed X-band radar, where it instantaneously shares information with Israel's Arrow Weapon System.

Once operational, the combined U.S. and Israeli system is expected to double or even triple the range at which Israel can detect, track and ultimately intercept Iranian missiles, according to Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency.

During a visit to Israel in early August, Obering said the X-Band radar could add precious minutes to the time in which Israel has to respond to incoming missile attacks.

"The missile threat from Iran is very real, and we must stay ahead of the threat ... that's why we're working so hard with all our allies to put the most optimized, effective, anti-missile capabilities in place," Obering said.

"In the context of Israel, if we can take the radar out here and tie it into the Arrow Weapon System, they'll be able to launch that interceptor way before they could with an autonomous system," he added.

Ilan Biton, a brigadier general in the Israel Air Force (IAF) reserves and former commander of the nation's air defense forces, could not comment on the latest developments associated with the X-band radar. However, he said that an IAF air defense brigade established during his 2003-2006 tenure has continuously demonstrated its ability to interoperate well with American forces.

"We advanced tremendously on multiple levels and have developed very impressive cooperation," Biton said at a Sept. 22 conference in Herzliya. Referring to bilateral Juniper Cobra air defense exercises and the 2003 deployment of Patriot batteries prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Biton noted: "At the human level, we've developed a common language and at the technical level, we've put in place the interfaces that allow our systems to speak to one another."

The end result, according to Biton, is a combined ability "to manage battles, execute debriefs and implement corrections, all in real time."

The Americans are hoping that by deploying the X-band system here, they will send a message to Iran that the US will defend Israel against that country, while sending a message to Israel that it can live with a nuclear Iran if it has to.

DEBKA, which first broke the story of the Israelis being unhappy with the lack of Israeli control over the system, points out that Israeli personnel are barred from the X-band facility, but on the other hand says that the link with the JTAGS system will improve Israel's missile detection capabilities.

This is the first time an Israel Defense Forces facility housing an American weapons system has been closed to Israeli military.

The X-band radar has been deployed with cooling systems, generators, perimeter defense weaponry and dozens of technicians and security forces to operate and defend the installation.

The Raytheon system can detect a flying object the size of a baseball at a distance of 4,700 km, fix on its speed and trajectory and convey the data to the Israeli Arrow anti-missile battery. This equals detecting an Iranian Shehab-3 ballistic missile 5.5 minutes after its launch, which means that it is picked up halfway on its 11-minute flight from Iran to bomb targets in Israel, adding precious minutes to Israel’s response time for incoming missile attacks.

Israel has furthermore been given improved access to US satellites capable of identifying missiles at the instant of their launch. Israel will now be directly linked to the satellites - albeit through the US Joint Tactical Ground Station – JTAGS in Europe.

The first picture in this post is of a land-based X-band system of the type deployed in the Negev desert. The other two pictures are of sea-based systems of the type deployed in Japan.

There is no question that Israel is better off with X-band than without it regardless of who controls the system.

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