Ashkelon gets rocket tracking system

IAI installs innovative new command-and-control system capable of tracking and locating Katyushas.

By YAAKOV KATZ
grad rocket ashkelon sappers 248 88 (photo credit: Eliram Moshe [file])
grad rocket ashkelon sappers 248 88
(photo credit: Eliram Moshe [file])
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) installed a new innovative command-and-control system in the Ashkelon Municipality that is capable of tracking and locating Katyusha rockets that hit the city. The system was installed last week to be tested in a Home Front exercise that was held ahead of Operation Cast Lead launched against Hamas on Saturday. The system is called MC4 - Command and Control Communication Center. The system was developed by the IAI's Malam Missile and Space Division. The system, the IAI said, uses GPS as well as other sensors and cameras to identify rocket launches and the targets that they hit inside the city. "It helps the emergency services identify the location that was hit and then the municipality knows which infrastructure is there and which forces it needs to dispatch," IAI explained. "This is an excellent and accurate system that helps us know which forces to dispatch immediately to the place where the rocket hit," said Benny Vaknin, the mayor of Ashkelon.