F2E010%BARILVM.BITNET@VM1.gatech.edu (Don Goldenfarb) (11/06/90)
From: Don Goldenfarb <F2E010%BARILVM.BITNET@VM1.gatech.edu>
WAR OF THE BUTTONS - Aryeh Agozi (Yedioth Acharonoth, Oct 30, 1990)
{War of the Buttons is a play on the Hebrew for "Star Wars" and
I couldn't find and exact translation for it into English. - DG}
The path of the missile was seen clearly on the large screens. On
a smaller screen ran the time left until the first ground to ground
missile would hit. In five minutes the missile would hit a large
populated area. Suddenly, two more paths appeared on the screen.
A missile attack. The operators had a short time left, within seconds
they would have to decide which missile to destroy first.
With the help of the first simulator of its type in the world, Israeli
and American experts will be able to test and solve these problems
within a year. With the funding of the SDI - USA, which is known
better as "Star Wars," the Tadiran Co. is building a state of the art
facility, to simulate tactical missile attacks.
In sub-surface rooms, the systems department of Tadiran is building
the "Israeli Testbed" the ITB. When General James Abramson, the
first director of SDI visited Israel in 1988, he announced that Israel
was chosen to develop the anti-missile missile named the "Arrow"
and also ITB, where situations of missile attacks would be simulated.
The Arrow was developed quickly, while the ITB project was pushed aside.
The administrators of SDI budgeted 30 million dollars for planning
and building the simulator. The systems department at Tadiran took
the project upon itself. Recently, they began the actual work at the
building site which was chosen and approved for the special project.
Large television screens, control boards, and computers are reaching
the site. Soon they will all be set up.
According to the agreement with the USA on cooperation with the
SDI project, 20% of the funds will be Israeli. This was the same
with the development of the Arrow missile. Mondi Eirad, director of
the systems department at Tadiran speaks of the significance of the
huge simulator; "The Americans have simulators for that deal with
the possibility of an ICBM attack, but they don't have a simulator
that deals with a tactical missile attack, involving missiles
that have a range of 1000 kilometers, the type that are a threat to
the multi-national forces in the gulf."
At the end of next year, American and Israeli experts will be able
to sit in the comfortable seats in the large sub-surface rooms, and
get, with the touch of a button, any and every possibility
of a missile attack on a populated area or on strategic and military
installations.
The "blue room" will be used by the people who will operate the various
defense systems against missile attacks. They will see the approach
of the missiles, will check variables, and will decide which steps
to take to thwart the attack.
The "red room" will house the "enemies." They will have various
computer programs that will allow them to change the situation.
What starts out as an attack by four missiles on a populated area can
be changed, in a matter of seconds, to an attack by 10 missiles on an
army base. The people in the "blue room" will have to give an answer to
the new threat in a matter of seconds.
In the "white room" will sit people with a clear picture of what is
going on. "They will know which positions have already been hit
by other weapons, and which areas have been evacuated, as a result,
the defense of these areas will be given a lower priority,"
said Eirad. The Americans, he added, are carefully watching the
advancement of the project, and they are fully satisfied by the work
done by the people of the systems department.
In addition to the primary funding of 30 million dollars, there are
negotiations going on regarding an Israeli proposal to expand the
project. The new situation in the Persian Gulf, can possibly help
this. Tadiran is trying to convince the Americans to develop a mobile
system, that will allow the command and control of the warning and
direction of ballistic tactical missiles. The expansion will need to
be discussed by the two countries, but it seems as though it will be
followed through.