Israel rushed laser system to UAE to fend off Iran’s missiles

{"text":[[{"start":11.55,"text":"Israel sent sophisticated weapons systems — including an advanced laser — to the United Arab Emirates to help defend the Gulf monarchy from a ferocious onslaught of Iranian missiles and drones."}],[{"start":23.8,"text":"The deployment was one of the first examples of major defence co-operation between the two states — which did not have formal diplomatic relations until the 2020 Abraham Accords brokered by US President Donald Trump — and was a display of “the value of being Israel’s friend”, a regional official said."}],[{"start":42.25,"text":"According to two people familiar with the matter, Israel rushed over a lightweight surveillance system called Spectro, which helped the UAE to detect incoming drones, especially Shaheds, from as far as 20km away."}],[{"start":55.6,"text":"It also sent a version of its Iron Beam laser defence system, according to one person familiar with the deployment and another with knowledge of the preparations to operate the system. "}],[{"start":65.6,"text":"The laser, which vaporises short-range rockets and drones, was first deployed by Israel earlier this year to defend against incoming Hizbollah projectiles from Lebanon. The Iron Beam and Spectro deployments to the UAE have not previously been reported. "}],[{"start":81.8,"text":"Both these weapons are considered defensive and joined the Iron Dome air defence system that was also sent to the UAE, along with “several dozen” Israeli military personnel to operate the system, said the people familiar with the deployment. Axios first reported the Iron Dome’s deployment."}],[{"start":100.15,"text":"A person familiar with the matter said additional weapons systems were deployed to the Gulf state, along with more Israeli personnel. “It’s not a small number of boots on the ground,” they added. "}],[{"start":110,"text":"Elbit Systems, which manufactures Spectro, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which is the primary developer of the Iron Beam, both declined to comment. The Israeli Ministry of Defence declined to comment. The UAE did not respond to a request for comment. "}],[{"start":126.1,"text":"Israel also shared significant real-time intelligence on short-range missile launch preparations in western Iran that were aimed at the UAE. The Arab state faced the brunt of Iran’s counteroffensive during the joint US-Israeli war with the Islamic republic."}],[{"start":140.65,"text":"Iran fired more than 500 ballistic missiles and 2,000 drones at the UAE. "}],[{"start":146.70000000000002,"text":"The vast majority of the projectiles were intercepted as the UAE deployed multiple air-defence systems to counter Iranian fire, including Israeli-made kit."}],[{"start":157.10000000000002,"text":"To keep up with the tempo of the war, the Israeli military took weapons that were either in the prototype stage or not fully integrated into Israeli radar systems, “off the bench and gave it to the Emiratis”, one of the people familiar with the issue said."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":170.35000000000002,"text":"“We let them into our underwear,” said a third person briefed on the issue."}],[{"start":174.95000000000002,"text":"The Abraham Accords formalised relations between Israel and four Arab states, including the UAE. Israel has developed increasingly close economic and military ties with the UAE and had previously sold the Gulf state its Barak and Spyder air defence systems. "}],[{"start":191.85000000000002,"text":"Yet the war that followed the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran in February was the first major sustained test of the Israel-UAE alliance and the retaliation prompted Israel to move cutting-edge platforms to the Gulf state. "}],[{"start":206.35000000000002,"text":"While criticising Arab and Muslim institutions for what it perceives to be a meek response to Iran’s aggression, Abu Dhabi has made clear it will now double down on its relations with the US and Israel. "}],[{"start":218.35000000000002,"text":"The UAE was one of Iran’s major targets partly because of its “enthusiastic” embrace of the Abraham Accords, said a western official. "}],[{"start":226.75000000000003,"text":"Iran’s retaliatory onslaught across the region — which included swarms of drones and several thousand missiles — strained the supplies of the US, Israel and Gulf states’ expensive interceptor missiles, some of which cost millions of dollars each and take months to produce. "}],[{"start":244.00000000000003,"text":"The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that by the time Iran and the US agreed a temporary ceasefire, the US military had burned through half of its inventory of Thaad and Patriot missiles, the most sophisticated interceptors in its arsenal."}],[{"start":259.65000000000003,"text":"This created a demand for low-cost, agile interception systems, including those created by Ukraine to fend off Russian drones modelled on Iran’s Shaheds, which were deployed in several countries. "}],[{"start":271.45000000000005,"text":"Shahed drones have proven difficult to identify when en route to their targets because of their small size and low heat signatures. The UAE is now actively considering a project to convert its existing stockpile of thousands of ageing Sidewinder air-to-air missiles into a ground-launched version."}],[{"start":288.6,"text":"This would allow the UAE to replace the heat-seeking capacity of the old Sidewinder missiles with “passive laser seeker heads”, which would work in tandem with Elbit’s Spectro surveillance system to mark Shahed drones for interception."}],[{"start":309.55,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777598833_9462.mp3"}