IDF to set up advanced mortar warning system

System for Gaza border an adaptation of radar used by IAF, to be installed at a cost of NIS 10 million.

By YAAKOV KATZ, TOVAH LAZAROFF
Gaza mortar fire 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
Gaza mortar fire 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
With more and more mortar attacks on communities near the Gaza Strip, the IDF is planning to install an advanced warning system in the area in the coming days, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Currently, the alarm system in place throughout the western Negev only warns of Kassam or Katyusha rockets, but not the smaller mortar shells. The new system is an adaptation of a radar and warning system used by the Israel Air Force and will be installed at a cost of NIS 10 million. Mortar shells, many of them manufactured in Iran and smuggled into Gaza, have become the Gazan terrorist groups' weapon of choice. On Wednesday, around 30 shells pounded the western Negev, and on Thursday one wounded a worker next to the paint factory in Kibbutz Nir Oz where 51-year-old Amnon Rozenberg was killed by a mortar last week. Also Wednesday, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems postponed its scheduled first interception test of the Iron Dome Kassam defense system. Defense officials said that due to a slight technical complication it was postponed by a day. The system is slated to become operational in 2010.