Israel can now spot, destroy roadside bombs from air

TEL AVIV – Israel’s military has succeeded in detecting and
neutralizing improvised explosive devices from the air.

Israeli officials said the Israel Defense Forces have combined air and
ground forces to detect IEDs during military operations in the Gaza
Strip.

They said the military used unmanned air vehicles and helicopters to
locate and neutralize bombs during the invasion of the southern Gaza
Strip in May.

The method was used during Operation Rainbow, the incursion into Rafah
in which the military searched for insurgents and weapons smuggling
tunnels.

Palestinian insurgents fought Israeli troops with light arms,
rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and mines, Middle East Newsline
reported.

The Israeli military used a combination of air platforms to locate and
destroy the IEDs. Officials said the Searcher unmanned air vehicle
detected the bombs placed in alleyways and streets in Rafah. When the
IEDs were located, the Israel Air Force summoned an Apache AH-64A
attack helicopter to fire a missile to destroy the bombs.

[On late Tuesday, an Israeli Apache AH-64A attack helicopter fired
missiles toward what a military spokesman said was a Hamas facility in
Gaza City that produced Kassam-class short-range missiles. Israeli
military sources said the missile strike was in response to the Hamas
firing of Kassam missiles toward Israel.]

The military released a video that showed Palestinian insurgents
planting dozens of explosive charges in residential areas of Rafah
during the Israeli invasion. The video showed a UAV spotting one IED
and directing an attack helicopter to destroy the bomb.

In the video, released on June 6, the Apache was seen firing a single
missile, which contained submunitions. The missile destroyed several
IEDs.

The video also showed UAVs tracking insurgents with RPGs.

In one part of the video, the UAV detected insurgents who had planted
an IED and concealed it with a sheet of plastic. The UAV then helped
guide the Apache, which destroyed the bomb.

Officials said that during these operations the UAV and the helicopter
were in constant communication. The air platforms were also linked to
ground-based systems and tactical computers used by infantry and
armored commanders in Rafah.