As concern mounts in Israel over the possibility that Syria’s chemical weapons
will fall into rogue hands, the IDF recently tested a new air raid siren that
will notify the public of incoming missiles carrying non-conventional
warheads.
The possibility of using two different sirens during a future
conflict – one for conventional missiles and the other for missiles carrying
non-conventional warheads – was first revealed in The Jerusalem Post two years
ago after it came up following that summer’s nationwide civil defense
exercise.
At the time, the Home Front Command decided to shelve the plan,
but several weeks ago – likely as result of the ongoing uprising in Syria – it
renewed tests of the siren.
Since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the IDF
Home Front Command has invested in improving Israeli warning systems and has
doubled the number of sirens stationed throughout the country to a whopping
3,100.
While Israeli radars can detect missile launches, they are not
capable of determining if a missile is carrying a nonconventional
warhead.
“This would be based on intelligence but there is no reason for
people to put on their gas masks for every missile that is fired into Israel if
they don’t have to,” a senior Home Front Command officer explained.
As a
result, it is possible that if war were to break out with Syria, which has a
large arsenal of chemical weapons, the IDF would maintain a stringent policy of
airing the non-conventional siren for every missile launched from Syria. On the
other hand, a regular siren would sound for missiles launched from
Lebanon.
Syria is believed to have one of the most extensive chemical
weapons arsenal in the world which reportedly includes Sarin, VX and mustard
gas.
Israel is concerned that Syria’s chemical weapons could possibly
fall into rogue hands. This worry stems from intelligence obtained by the West
which indicates that advanced conventional military platforms have already been
moved out of Syria by Hezbollah.