(IsraelNN.com) Last Sunday Israel received a new missile defense system from the U.S., complete with a team of American support personnel that will become the first group of U.S. troops to be stationed permanently in the country. The FBX-T system is based on the latest x-band radar technology, and is designed to provide early detection and warning of incoming missiles such as the Shahab-3 rockets that Iran claims can reach and destroy targets in Israel.

On September 21, more than a dozen aircraft deployed by the United States European Command (EUCOM) arrived at the Nevatim Air Base southeast of Be’er Sheva, carrying the AN/TPY-2 Transportable Radar Surveillance/Forward Based X-band Transportable (FBX-T) system, as well as some 120 American personnel. The team of technicians and advisers, including at least one from the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency (M.D.A) will remain in Israel as the support crew for the new system. They represent the first time in Israel’s history that the U.S. military will have a permanent presence in Israel.
According to the latest assessment from the Israeli government, Iran is "galloping toward a nuclear bomb."

The Defense News weekly describes the system as a “high-powered, high-frequency, transportable X-band radar,” which the U.S. pledged to deliver to Israel at least partly in response to the growing missile threat from Iran. The system, identical to the one the U.S. deployed in Japan in 2006, can supposedly track an object as small as a baseball from a distance of up to 4,700 kilometers.

By sharing data with the U.S. Joint Tactical Ground Station (JTAGS) in Europe, the FBX-T system will interface with a global network of American military satellites to provide detection and tracking of incoming missiles. FBX-T promises to deliver a missile warning six times sooner than Israel’s current Green Pine system, enabling Israel to fire an Arrow missile early enough to destroy an incoming Shahab-3 in less than six minutes, midway along the Iranian missile’s flight path.

"The missile threat from Iran is very real, and we must stay ahead of the threat... that's why we're working so hard with all our allies to put the most optimized, effective, anti-missile capabilities in place," said Lt.-Gen. Henry Obering, director of the M.D.A., in an August visit to Israel. The deployment of the FBX-T system a week ago comes on the heels of an announcement by the U.S. government that it will neither support Israel directly in an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites nor allow Israeli planes to refuel in or even fly over U.S.-occupied Iraq. 

Although many believe that the announcement leaves Israel without a way of effectively combating the Iranian nuclear threat, Obering said that FBX-T will greatly enhance Israel’s defensive capability. When tied to Israel’s Arrow Weapon System, “they'll be able to launch that interceptor way before they could with an autonomous system," said Obering.

 Meanwhile, in Israel tensions have continuted to mount over Iran’s nuclear weapons program and the threat it poses to the Jewish State. The same day that the FBX-T system arrived in Israel, an Israeli Defense Forces intelligence officer reported in a cabinet meeting that Iran has accelerated the enrichment process, and that it has already refined perhaps half of the uranium required to produce its first nuclear warhead.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office criticized what it sees as a failure by the international community to properly confront the Iranian menace: "The international front against Iran is weak and not consolidated, and isn't putting enough pressure on the regime to stop enriching uranium.”

"The sanctions have very little influence and are far from bringing to bear a critical mass of pressure on Iran," said a senior government official as he read from the briefing. According to the latest assessment from the Israeli government, Iran is "galloping toward a nuclear bomb."