The U.S. military isn't the only country, it seems, interested in putting arms in orbit. "Israels top lawmaker for defense and security affairs has called for the development and deployment of space-based weapons," Defense News reports.
In a rare public discussion on Israels military use of space, Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Israels Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, said the nation must compensate for its lack of strategic depth on land by expanding use of sea- and space-based attacks.
Specifically, Steinitz urged defense and industry officials to consider future developments of anti-satellite missiles, satellite-attacking lasers and ship-based missiles that can strike the skies.
In Israel, our strategic Achilles heel is our miniscule geographical size, Steinitz told a Dec. 22 symposium sponsored by the Israeli Space Society and the Fisher Institute for Strategic Air and Space Studies. This lack of ground territory and our obligation to defend the homeland from attack drives the need to develop a strategic envelope of air, sea and space forces not only for defense, but for attack.
The other side faces a military handicap when compared to Israel, but it can use its borders to try through primitive means like Scud missiles, long-range artillery and guerrilla tactics to threaten Israeli territory. Israel cannot allow itself to forsake its ground forces, but it also cannot permit itself to be dragged into a land war. Therefore, it is beneficial to push the war into the air, sea and space...
While Steinitz conceded that his exhortations for a militarized, tightly integrated sea, air and space force was merely my personal vision, at this point, he said he would use his influential committee chairmanship to push for greater space-related funding. What were seeing today is just the beginning spark of a new kind of warfare that warrants a new kind of defense doctrine."
THERE'S MORE: Darpa chief Tony Tether is in Israel right now, Defense News notes, looking for new technologies to better fight the block-by-block battles that have become so common in Iraq. It's part of a growing trend of G.I.s relying on sabras to supply some of their gear.
