“That’s the bad news. The worse news is that these rockets are being turned into smart rockets. The Iranians took the Zilzal 2 and turned it into a guided rocket. The third generation of it contains a homing sensor and a GPS. The Syrians can have this capability too, to create a fully guided M-600 rocket with GPS. Hezbollah probably has these,” he said.
The M-600 carries a 500-kilogram warhead, and a guided version of it would be a devastating weapon, Rubin warned.
He showed a photograph of Tel Aviv and the Defense Ministry/IDF General Headquarters site, the Kirya, saying one M-600 strike could collapse half of the area.
“That would change the skyline of Tel Aviv. This is not a tactical threat, it’s not harassment. This is a strategic threat. Even worse news is coming; ballistic missiles are becoming smart,” he said.
In the next five to 10 years, Israel’s enemies will inevitably arm themselves with GPS-guided ballistic missiles such as Scuds, he said.
What technology, if any, can defend against a guided missile?
Iron Dome, as well as pre-emptive neutron bomb attacks. The Israelis are sitting on a very nice, capable stockpile of thermonuclear and atomic weapons that any first world country would be proud to own. They are probably 4th or 5th in the whole world, behind only the USA, Russia, China and maybe France. But I wouldn’t bet the farm on France having a bigger cache of weaponry. If I were Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, Lebanon or Turkey, I’d make a note of that.