Underground system can detect infiltrations, distinguish humans from other moving objects.
By YAAKOV KATZ
The defense establishment is considering the possibility of installing a system of underground sensors along the Gaza Strip border fence to enhance detection capabilities in face of growing attempts by Palestinian terrorists to infiltrate into Israel.
Two weeks ago, the IDF foiled two attempts by terrorists to infiltrate into Israel. In August, two terrorists, carrying weapons and explosives, succeeded in scaling the concrete border wall and attacking a nearby IDF base.
The system's developer, Rosh Ha'ayin-based Sonic Lynx Company, has proposed that the defense establishment install its early detection and decoding sensors along the Gaza perimeter, a move that would grant the IDF early-warning capabilities ahead of infiltration attempts.
"Our sensors can detect if the object approaching the perimeter is a human, an animal or a car based on the seismic and acoustic fluctuation," Sonic Lynx CEO Gil Pogozelich said.
Sonic Lynx's systems have already been installed in banks in South America, along gas pipelines in the Far East and in Brazil, and at Israel Chemical installations. The company is in advanced negotiations with an international airport in the southern United States to provide the system for perimeter security.
The system is based on hundreds of miniature sensors that are hidden underground and can detect and identify movement within a 200-meter radius.
Sonic Lynx plans to offer the IDF in the coming weeks a new portable model of the system - called Fortis - that would be ideal for protecting a military force camped out in enemy territory during an operation.
The system is based on rapid-deployable sensors that are connected by a cable to a command-and-control console that gathers and analyzes the readings. In the case of the portable system, the sensors would be connected to the console by cable and would not be operated wirelessly for defense against electronic-warfare systems.
"This system can be deployed wherever the force is - in an ambush or in a watchtower," Pogozelich said. "The detection will take place 20 seconds before the infiltration, which is critical time for a soldier to get ready and be prepared."
In addition to the perimeter solutions, Sonic Lynx has also recently completed the development of a hand-held system that can "see through" shipping containers and trucks and detect whether a live being is inside. The system was developed as an answer to the threat posed by terrorists who in 2004 hid inside a shipping container and committed a double suicide bombing at Ashdod Port.
The system, called HBR, has already been reviewed by the Prisons Service, which plans to install it at the entrances to its 30 installations.
"The system can detect, from outside, a human's movements within a closed container or truck," Pogozelich said. "This makes it ideal for curbing human trafficking and terrorist infiltration."