Wary of missiles attacking sensitive military installations in a future war, the
IDF has approved a NIS 1.5 billion plan to build backup facilities and reinforce
sites that could be targeted.
As of May, the IDF has budgeted NIS 750
million for the project, with plans to allocate the second half by the end of
2012. The IDF Home Front Command and Operations Directorate chooses the list of
installations that require the reinforcement or construction of secondary
facilities.
Despite having a secondary facility under construction, a key
IDF base in the North will be retrofitted. The IDF fears that the base will
undergo heavy damage in a future war and therefore decided to build the
secondary facility. That location is confidential information, located somewhere
in the center of the country.
“Redundancy and secondary facilities are
key elements of the program,” a senior officer explained. “This way, if one
facility is damaged the other will be able to continue operating.”
Last
week, The Jerusalem Post revealed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
approved a budget that will fortify close to a dozen critical national
infrastructure sites.
The IDF recently conducted a study – based on the
results of the First Gulf War, the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead –
analyzing the extent of damage caused to the home front in a future war. The
scenario includes the type of missiles and rockets now in Hezbollah and Hamas
hands.
The study also highlights the possible degree of infrastructure
damage. The IDF believes that Hezbollah may try to hit military installations
with its long-range rockets but could then shift its focus to infrastructure and
civilian targets at a later stage of a future war.