Israel deploys new advanced missile, aircraft detection system

Israeli military on Tuesday received advanced missile and aircraft detection systems from the Defence Ministry, deploying it in the north of the country, local media reported.

The device is a massive balloon equipped with an advanced missile and aircraft detection radar-based system, the Times of Israel reported.

Officials were reported by the Israeli newspaper saying the system, dubbed “Elevated Sensor” or “Sky Dew” in Israel, is deployed at high altitudes in order to detect incoming long-range missiles, cruise missiles and drones.

During the official reception ceremony, the Defence Ministry formally handed over the system to the military and began its operational use under a new air force unit, with the same name as the system.

Israeli Air Force chief Amikam Norkin said that the system would “make the air force more prepared, and assist it in continuing its mission — maintaining security in the skies of Israel.”

The Sky Dew aerostat was developed in a joint venture by Israel’s Missile Defence Organisation and the United States’ Missile Defence Agency, the Israeli daily said.

Vice Admiral Jon Hill, the director of the American Missile Defence Agency, said the system was aimed at shoring up Israel’s “qualitative military edge,” a technical term referring to Israel’s military superiority in the region.

READ: Israel approves huge ‘new defence’ plan to confront Iran threats