BICOM

The IDF has successfully carried out laboratory tests on a system designed to detect infiltration tunnels and will now conduct field tests according to an army official.

Hamas has constructed a complex advanced network of tunnels in Gaza, which has been used to launch numerous attacks against Israel. Although a number of tunnels targeting Israeli communities near the Gaza border were uncovered prior to Operation Protective Edge, the IDF uncovered a far more extensive network during the operation, locating and destroying over 30 tunnels dug by Hamas under the border into Israel. On several occasions during the conflict, terrorists succeeded in infiltrating into Israel, killing 11 Israeli troops since the operation began.

However, an unnamed IDF official yesterday told the Israeli media that a system is being developed to find a substantive solution to tunnel infiltration. The official is quoted by Haaretz saying, “We now hope that the combination of two detection systems will prevent infiltration and resolve this issue.”

Both Israel Hayom and Haaretz report that the system combines motion detectors and a physical barrier and that having passed initial laboratory tests, it will be tested operationally. In Yediot Ahronot, Alex Fishman says that the system has been tested on the Tel Aviv sewage system and if it passes future tests, it could be deployed along the Gaza border within a year, at an estimated cost of £256-£430 million.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the same IDF official also said that improvements are being made to the Iron Dome anti-missile system. Although the Iron Dome has been deployed with huge success during Operation Protective Edge, he said that Israel’s enemies will likely attempt to improve their capability and the Iron Dome is being developed to intercept rockets over enemy territory, before they enter Israel. He also praised the Trophy tank defence system which he credited for saving the lives of Israeli soldiers during the fighting in Gaza.