Rod Bryant and Jerry Gordon bring back Dr. Stephen Bryen to discuss the latest on what triggered Beirut blast, Iran’s Mahan Air terror flights, the important successful recent test of the Arrow -2 system against Iran Nuclear warhead missile threat, Israel laser tech countering Hamas explosive balloon and kite threat to infrastructure in south, and the historic UAE Israel Abraham Accords.

Dr. Bryen is a former Reagan Era Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Technology and Security, noted military technologist and widely published Asia Times columnist.

Bryen considers the normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel as an indication of how far geo-politics in the region have changed since the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat traveled to Jerusalem in 1977 to initiate a peace agreement. This occurred despite the Mossad assassination in January 2010 of a Hamas arms dealer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. al-Mabhouh was responsible for killing two Israel soldiers in1989 and at the time of his assassination was trying to purchase Iranian arms for use in Gaza. This dramatic change occurred because of the common agenda of Israel, the US and many of the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia with the rise of the Iran threat became the nexus for regional cooperation.

He talks about The discussion of Iran’s Mahan Air flights engaged in supply of precision missile components to Hezbollah tunnel workshops via the adjacent Beirut Airport was raised.

Bryen noted the recent provocative Mahan Air overflights of the US Al-Tanf base in Syria suspected of engaging in aerial photo reconnaissance in violation of the deconfliction agreement with Russia that maintains a 55-mile radius. He noted the dispatch of two US F-15s from the Jordanian airbase at Al Azraq and the evasive actions of the Mahan Air A-320 airbus.

The significance of the recent test of the upgraded Israeli Arrow 2 Block 5 missile defense system that began development in 1982. The longer range strategic exo-atmospheric Arrow 3 system was successfully tested in Alaska in 2019. The Arrow 2, which also has exo-atmospheric capabilities provides more tactical layer of defense against Iran’s nuclear warhead equipped missiles under development. The test involved use of the Israel Green Pine that support the Arrow Missile systems and US TPY2 radar systems – the latter used for the US THAAD system deployed in Saudi Arabia. Bryen noted the potential use of the Arrow 2 against the Hezbollah threat to the Israel port of Haifa using the Iranian

Zelzal missiles modified with GPS systems. The merger of both Arrows system with these radar systems would enable discriminating decoy versus activated warheads enabling higher and sooner kill levels of incoming nuclear tipped missiles. Bryen said this is a big step in early warning for both Israel, the US, and other allies in the Middle East region.

Recent announcement indicated that the US Army may have changed its mind on production of the Iron Dome system. Heretofore, the Army had purchased two batteries, but complained that no source code had been provided ad allegedly it did not work against cruise missiles, a threat for which it was not intended.