Israel Matzav

Former Navy chief: 'We have answers to the Yakhont'

Every time I post about Iran smuggling weapons to Hezbullah via Syria, a weapons system that figures  prominently in the post seems to be the Yakhont land-to-sea missile, a missile for which Israel is presumed to have no answer. Except that former Israel Navy chief Eliezer Marom says that Israel has defenses in place against the Yakhont.

Describing the Yakhont as the most advanced missile of its kind in the world, Marom said the West does not know very much about the weapon, which flies at low altitude “right over the sea,” reaching speeds of between Mach 2 and Mach 3 (up to three times the speed of sound).

With most other missiles in the Yakhont’s group achieving subsonic speed at most, the Yakhont represents a new type of threat, giving the navy between half and a third of the time to respond compared to other threats, Marom said.

He warned that no defense is foolproof.

“Israel has answers for these missiles, and these are being developed all of the time,” Marom, who completed his term as navy chief in 2011, added. “The more advanced the missile is, the less percentage of defenses available. This is a big challenge to the navy.

Additionally, with a range of 300 kilometers, it can reach every location on the Israeli coast.”

Should Hezbollah come to possess an operational arsenal of Yakhont missiles, it would be able to target Israeli gas drilling rigs in the Mediterranean, civilian shipping, and ports.

Err.... Those answers don't sound really definitive, do they?

Labels: Hezbullah, Iran, Israel Navy, Lebanon, Syria, weapons smuggling, Yakhont land to sea missile

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:03 PM