Tel Aviv: The Israeli Ministry of Defence is close to asking the defence industry to develop ground-launched long-range ballistic missiles. This, according to sources, is one of the initial lessons from the war with Iran. These issues have now reached a point where a decision has to be made and fast. This decision is expected to be made by the Israeli cabinet.
The issue is very clear – will the Israeli defence industries get the order and the money to develop long-range ballistic missiles with conventional warheads and a range of up to 3000 km. Israel has some variants of the Jericho ballistic missiles but according to the foreign media, these are designed to carry special warheads. According to sources, brought up many times in recent years, the issue didn’t gain traction as the Israeli Air Force convinced the decision makers that it has the tools to attack long-range targets.
In the current war, the air force launched some very advanced air-launched ballistic missiles like the Lora made by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The Ministry of Defence, according to sources, is now convinced that ground-launched long-range ballistic missiles are a much-needed combat asset.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
