'Greece helped Israel study S-300'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Jerusalem Post, 14 juli 2008, 23:00
Greece assisted the Israeli Air Force last month in more than just allowing the
use of its airspace, The Cutting Edge news Website reported Monday.
The Mediterranean country owns the same Russian radar, S-300, that Iran is
soon to receive - or has already began receiving - from Moscow. Israel sees the
S-300, which can simultaneously track hundreds of semi-stealth cruise missiles,
long range missiles and aircraft, including airborne monitoring jets, as a
significant threat to its entire airforce in the event of an attack on the
Islamic Republic.
A massive air drill reportedly carried out by Israel in the first days of
June over Greek airspace was publicized by The New York Times and generated
powerful ripples, including warnings from Iran. But veteran investigative
reporter Edwin Black writes in the Edge that a crucial aspect of the drill went
unreported - Israel's trial run at defeating, jamming and circumventing the
Russian system.
The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the report.
After Iran complained to Greece about the Israeli air maneuvers, officials in
Athens said their Russian-made radar-missile batteries were "turned off" during
the exercise. The Iranians, according to Black, were not convinced that Greece
would really compromise its air defenses during such a crucial exercise.
The S-300 batteries Iran is expected to receive from Russia are from a newer
generation than the Greek version, and are also matched with the S-300PMU-2
"Favorit," mobile missile batteries, codenamed by NATO "the Gargoyle." According
to the Website, however, the missile batteries in Iran are not yet operational.
Meanwhile, Black writes, Israel is courting the US Pentagon for permission to
buy the F-35B "Lightning II" fighter, which was just recently unveiled. Apart
from having stealth capabilities, the jet can also take off and land vertically,
wihtout the use of a runway. Israel is trying to quickly purchase an entire
squadron of the plane, valued at US $80 million apiece.
Any strike by Israel against Iran's nuclear facilities would involve hundreds
of sorties, lasting many hours and requiring ad hoc bomb damage assessment (BDA)
as airplanes went back again and again to attack targets until successful, Black
analyzes. Because Natanz and other facilities are buried many feet below-ground,
multiple synchronized attacks with bunker busters would have to be mounted as
delayed munitions burrow deeper and deeper into the crater left by the previous
bomb impact. It might take up to 20 or 40 pairs of BLU-113 penetrating bombs,
each carrying more than 300 kg of high-explosive Tritonal warheads, to destroy
the Natanz underground halls housing centrifuges. Israel's long-range,
heavy-duty fighters can deliver these blows.
But if Israel attacks Iran, it will need to deliver those blows over and over
again, in location after location, as well as neutralize the S-300
installations, mobile rockets, air defenses and a collection of North
Korean-made Shahab 3 missiles, and rescue its downed pilot
Excerpt from Israeli paper The Jerusalem Post, July 14, 2008, from
an article written by Yaakov Katz:
"Meanwhile on Monday, another foreign media outlet reported
that the IAF exercise over Greece last month was conducted so Israeli
fighter jets could study the Russian-made S-300 air-defense missile system,
which is deployed on the island of Crete, and believed to be on the way to
Iran.
The S-300 is one of the best multi-target anti-aircraft-missile systems in
the world today and has a reported ability to track up to 100 targets
simultaneously while engaging up to 12 at the same time. Iran is believed to
have already procured several S-300 systems to protect its nuclear
facilities although reports have differed as to whether the systems have
already been supplied by Russia.
According to a report on The Cutting Edge News Web site, written by
award-winning journalist Edwin Black, in December 2007 Greece installed the
S-300 system in Crete following several years when it was stationed in
Cyprus.
In the beginning of June, Israel reportedly flew 100 F-15 and F-16 fighter
jets 1,400 kilometers into Greek airspace in what has been described as a
"dress rehearsal" for an airstrike against Iranian nuclear installations.
According to The Cutting Edge, by flying within range of the Greek S-300,
Israel was able to record invaluable information which could assist the IAF
in developing means of jamming and defeating the advanced air-defense
system.
Black wrote that Iran had filed a bitter protest in Athens following the
Israeli exercise, but was told by Greek officials that the S-300 had been
"turned off" during the exercise.
While Israeli defense sources said that it was not yet certain that S-300
systems had been delivered to Iran, The Cutting Edge cited Russian sources
which speculated that as many as five batteries had recently arrived in Iran
at the price of $800 million."
