IDF decides to store, not deploy, Iron Dome system

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 11/08/2010 | Yaakov Katz

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

After months of deliberations, the IDF has decided to store the Iron Dome anti-rocket system at an air force base in the center of the country and to deploy it only in cases of extreme rocket fire from either the Gaza Strip or southern Lebanon, senior military sources said on Sunday.

The decision was made ahead of the planned announcement that Iron Dome had reached “initial operational capability,” initially scheduled for this month.

On Sunday, top IDF officers told The Jerusalem Post that the initial operational capability would be postponed until the first quarter of 2011. The delay, the officers stressed, was not due to technical malfunctions but rather to the intricate process of training IDF officers and soldiers to use the complicated weapons system.

“This system is unbelievable,” one officer said. “It is, however, sometimes a complicated process to take in such a system and to turn it operational and into a fully functioning weapons system.”

[SuperLuminal]

"This system is unbelievable,” ..."

Hmmm! If it is operational, but not being deployed, it probably is "unbelievable".

[mazda77]

or maybe they want their enemies to think it is not.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks ErnstStavroBlofeld. This is a come-hither.

The delay, the officers stressed, was not due to technical malfunctions but rather to the intricate process of training IDF officers and soldiers to use the complicated weapons system.

[TangoLimaSierra]

or maybe they want their enemies to think it is not.

Bingo!

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

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[Karliner]

It’s probably more than ready, playing the defense to force a fumbling move? I’ve a sense this is a strategy for an ill prepared attack and then WHAM Israel slams the door on them. Hope they finally hit Damascus and all other points of terrorism.

[Jewbacca]

I think it cost a heck of a lot of money to deploy, so they are saving it when they have a serious threat, now that they know it works.

But that’s speculation.

It will go on “full on” when Iran gets its missles going with sufficient lift ability to drop a nuke.

[Eleutheria5]

It is not operational, because nobody’s trained to use it yet, and it’s complicated to use. It works, if somebody knows how to use it, though.