IDF test finds new Syria border barrier is missile-proof

After extensive tests, Golan Brigade says barrier is designed to prevent the infiltration of terrorists from Syria into Israel.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Golan border Syria truck 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner)
Golan border Syria truck 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner)
The IDF has confirmed that Israel’s barrier on the border with Syria is missile proof.
The Golan Brigade carried out tests, under the command of Col. Arik Hen, to check the 5-meterhigh barrier’s ability to withstand a direct missile strike, as well as small arms fire.
They came as part of an initiative to beef up defenses along the border with Syria, in light of the ongoing civil war and the growth of radical jihadi organizations.
“The purpose of the experiment is to enable us to understand what the weak spots and the advantages of the fence are,” the colonel said.
The barrier is designed to prevent terrorists infiltrating from Syria. After the missile test, soldiers simulated terrorists ambushing a patrol and forcing the patrol members to cross the barrier to engage the “attackers.”
Hen said the patrol on the scene is expected to deal with most border incidents, and not to wait for reinforcement infantry or tanks. Other scenarios simulated included an exchange of cross-border fire.
“In the event of an attack on our forces, the impact [of the enemy’s fire] is far less significant due to the fence. The damage from a missile fired at a vehicle traveling along the fence is decreased. In the event of an engagement, our forces have no problem positioning their vehicles to protect them as they fire on the enemy,” Hen said.
Ditches and high barbed wire surround the fence. It has electronic surveillance capabilities, and Combat Intelligence Collection units patrol it to allow for early warning of an attack.
In the past, IDF reservists patrolled the Syrian border; now conscripted infantrymen do so, and in greater numbers than before.
Separately, soldiers from the Nahal infantry brigade, who are currently deployed in the North, held a battle drill recently on Mount Hermon, also on the Syrian border.