Fighters make weekly flights to verify ‘suspicious targets' as Tel Aviv fears attacks
The Israeli air force's Lockheed Martin F-16I "Sufa" strike fighters are being routinely operated to secure Israel's airspace, according to the commanding officer of the service's second squadron to field the type. Based at Ramon air base in southern Israel alongside earlier model F-16s and air force Boeing AH-64A Apache attack helicopters, the unit's F-16Is are being scrambled on a weekly basis to verify "suspicious targets", says the squadron commander – identified only as Lt Col David. "The main concern now is of an attempt to use aircraft of any type to perform a 9/11-style terrorist attack," he says.
In a recent incident, F-16s and Apaches were scrambled from Ramon to intercept a powered parachute that took off and landed in southern Israel without its operator having informed air traffic control. The potential threat was detected using long-range radars at an air control unit near Ramon. "Most of the time it is private pilots that don't act according to the rules, or even big bird packs, but the margins in Israel are very small and we don't take any chances," the colonel says. The air force shot down a Lebanese Cessna 152 over northern Israel in May 2001 after it entered the country's airspace and failed to respond to communications.
However, the main task of Israel's current and future F-16I squadrons will be to perform deep strike missions, with Ramon emerging as the nucleus of Israel's deep strike force. Israel's 102 F-16Is will be equipped with conformal fuel tanks that extend their endurance while freeing underwing hardpoints for an expanded weapons load. The aircraft's basic configuration comprises Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM and Rafael Python 4 air-to-air missiles, Rafael's Spice stand-off bomb, air-to-surface stores equipped with Boeing's Joint Direct Attack Munition GPS guidance kit, and Rafael's Litening targeting pod.
The two-seat F-16I is also equipped with the Rafael Inertial Terrain-Aided (Rita) system, which enables the aircraft to perform terrain-following flight during deep strike missions. Based on a digital terrain map, the Rita system is designed to protect against controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) in all weather conditions and by day or night. The pilot sets a safety clearance height prior to take off or during flight, with the system then predicting the aircraft's flight trajectory based on current flight parameters and issuing visual warnings in the event of a risk of CFIT.
Source: Flight International
