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Israel's Secret Iran Attack Plan: Electronic Warfare
The Daily Beast ^ | Nov 16, 2011 | Eli Lake

Posted on 11/27/2011 7:29:46 AM PST by expat1000

For much of the last decade, as Iran methodically built its nuclear program, Israel has been assembling a multibillion-dollar array of high-tech weapons that would allow it to jam, blind, and deafen Tehran's defenses in the case of a pre-emptive aerial strike.

A U.S. intelligence assessment this summer, described to The Daily Beast by current and former U.S. intelligence officials, concluded that any Israeli attack on hardened nuclear sites in Iran would go far beyond airstrikes from F-15 and F-16 fighter planes and likely include electronic warfare against Iran’s electric grid, Internet, cellphone network, and emergency frequencies for firemen and police officers.

For example, Israel has developed a weapon capable of mimicking a maintenance cellphone signal that commands a cell network to “sleep,” effectively stopping transmissions, officials confirmed. The Israelis also have jammers capable of creating interference within Iran’s emergency frequencies for first responders.

In a 2007 attack on a suspected nuclear site at al-Kibar, the Syrian military got a taste of this warfare when Israeli planes “spoofed” the country’s air-defense radars, at first making it appear that no jets were in the sky and then in an instant making the radar believe the sky was filled with hundreds of planes.

Israel also likely would exploit a vulnerability that U.S. officials detected two years ago in Iran's big-city electric grids, which are not “air-gapped”—meaning they are connected to the Internet and therefore vulnerable to a Stuxnet-style cyberattack—officials say.

A highly secretive research lab attached to the U.S. joint staff and combatant commands, known as the Joint Warfare Analysis Center (JWAC), discovered the weakness in Iran’s electrical grid in 2009, according to one retired senior military intelligence officer. This source also said the Israelis have the capability to bring a denial-of-service attack to nodes of Iran’s command and control system that rely on the Internet.

Tony Decarbo, the executive officer for JWAC, declined comment for this story. The likely delivery method for the electronic elements of this attack would be an unmanned aerial vehicle the size of a jumbo jet. An earlier version of the bird was called the Heron, the latest version is known as the Eitan. According to the Israeli press, the Eitan can fly for 20 straight hours and carry a payload of one ton. Another version of the drone, however, can fly up to 45 straight hours, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.

Unmanned drones have been an integral part of U.S. wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, gathering intelligence and firing missiles at suspected insurgents. But Israel's fleet has been specially fitted for electronic warfare, according to officials.

The Eitans and Herons would also likely be working with a special Israeli air force unit known as the Sky Crows, which focuses only on electronic warfare. A 2010 piece in The Jerusalem Post quoted the commander of the electronic warfare unit as saying, “Our objective is to activate our systems and to disrupt and neutralize the enemy’s systems.”

Fred Fleitz, who left his post this year as a Republican senior staffer who focused on Iran at the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in his meetings with Israeli defense and intelligence officials, they would always say all options were on the table.

"I think Israel has the capabilities with their air force and mid-air refueling to take on these sites," said Fleitz, who is now managing editor of Lignet.com. "They would have to take out radar and anti-aircraft. They could also attack with missiles and their drone fleet."

Whatever Israel ultimately decides to do about Iran’s program, one mission for now is clear. A senior Israeli official told The Daily Beast this month that one important objective of Israel's political strategy on Iran was to persuade Iranian decision makers that a military strike against their nuclear infrastructure was a very real possibility. "The only known way to stop a nuclear program is to have smashing sanctions with a credible military threat. Libya is the best example of this," this official said.

At the same time, if past practice is any guide, the Israelis would not likely strike at the same moment that their officials are discussing the prospect in the press. In other words, if Israel is openly discussing a military strike, it is unlikely to be imminent.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel
KEYWORDS: iran; israel
From a few weeks ago. Who knows how much truth there is to it.
1 posted on 11/27/2011 7:29:49 AM PST by expat1000
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To: expat1000

Judging by history, it’s true.


2 posted on 11/27/2011 7:31:47 AM PST by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: expat1000

OUR TOP STORY TONIGHT -- ISRAEL HAS A SECRET IRAN ATTACK PLAN! THEY WILL USE ELECTRONIC WARFARE! SSSSSHHHHHHHHH!

3 posted on 11/27/2011 7:36:44 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Roll the stone away, Let the guilty pay, It's Independence Day)
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: expat1000

All we have to do is start drilling and production here in the USA, price of oil will go down. When it goes below $75.00 a barrel Iran’s economy will go berzerk. We can defeat them by destroying their economy. Simple.


5 posted on 11/27/2011 7:44:20 AM PST by Dudoight
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To: expat1000

When Israel said “NEVER AGAIN” they weren’t just blowing smoke. Iran better think long and hard about where their present course will lead them and about what little might be left of their country.


6 posted on 11/27/2011 8:09:54 AM PST by JPG (Hold on tight; rough road ahead.)
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To: expat1000

Thanks for posting the entire article. Israel will kick Iranian butt!

It is not smart to mess with God’s chosen people.


7 posted on 11/27/2011 8:41:14 AM PST by upchuck (Rerun: Think you know hardship? Wait till the dollar is no longer the world's reserve currency.)
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To: Dudoight
All we have to do is start drilling and production here in the USA, price of oil will go down. When it goes below $75.00 a barrel Iran’s economy will go berzerk. We can defeat them by destroying their economy. Simple.

All we lack is the will to do what is in our own best interests.

"Somehow we have to figure
out how to boost the price of
gasoline to the [$8-$10/gal]
levels in Europe." - Barrack Obama's
Energy Secretary Steve Chu. Had enough yet???


8 posted on 11/27/2011 9:12:08 AM PST by null and void (This is day 1040 of America's Obamavacation from reality.)
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To: expat1000

Get some, boys!

9 posted on 11/27/2011 9:26:43 AM PST by Alas Babylon!
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To: expat1000
Hah....in the movie "Clear and present danger", there was a scene that went something like this:

"Sargent Chavez, how did you manage to evade all the people in the field, and take out all our sentrys?".....Chavez replied, "because I am a sneaky bastard, sir"...

...which is what it will take for Israel to defeat millions of screaming a-rabs and the Iranian mullas.......being sneaky bastards.

If Iran even suspects that they have a nuke which they think, perhaps might work, they will shoot it at Israel...

...if Israel could send a jamming signal which would activate the nuke on the lauch pad, wouldn't that be cool?

10 posted on 11/27/2011 10:20:07 AM PST by B.O. Plenty (Elections have consequences....)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

Thanks expat1000.
Israel also likely would exploit a vulnerability that U.S. officials detected two years ago in Iran's big-city electric grids, which are not "air-gapped" -- meaning they are connected to the Internet and therefore vulnerable to a Stuxnet-style cyberattack -- officials say. A highly secretive research lab attached to the U.S. joint staff and combatant commands, known as the Joint Warfare Analysis Center (JWAC), discovered the weakness in Iran’s electrical grid in 2009, according to one retired senior military intelligence officer.
Women in Iran are being buried to their waists and stoned to death for basically no reason at all, BUT OUR TOP STORY... partisan media shills suck!


11 posted on 11/27/2011 10:26:36 AM PST by SunkenCiv (It's never a bad time to FReep this link -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Alas Babylon!; American_Centurion; An.American.Expatriate; ASA.Ranger; ASA Vet; Ax; Azeem; ...

MI Ping!


12 posted on 11/27/2011 4:01:05 PM PST by ASA Vet (Natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens. De Vattel)
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To: expat1000

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Israel seized an airfield inside Iran and used it as a base for it’s attacks, and then left before Iran could mobilize conventional forces to take it back.


13 posted on 11/27/2011 4:20:52 PM PST by gura (If Allah is so great, why does he need fat sexually confused fanboys to do his dirty work? -iowahawk)
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To: Travis McGee

All they would need to do is detonate an emp above Iran and knock out all the electric grids and computers..


14 posted on 11/27/2011 4:57:33 PM PST by txgirl4Bush (I Support President Bush and Operation Iraqi Freedom)
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