Buchris. The sky's the limit
The United States provided Israel with strategic information about the Syrian air defense systems prior to the Israeli Air Force strike on a suspected nuclear site in Syria, the US based Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine reported Thursday.
According to aerospace industry officials quoted in the report, the US was monitoring the electronic emissions coming from Syria during the IAF strike.
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The Israeli fighter jets, reported the magazine, flew over Syria without alerting Syrian air defenses.
The radar site was apparently hit with both precision bombs and an electronic signal, which allowed IAF jets to fly through Syrian airspace undetected.
The report stressed that there was "no active US engagement other than consulting on potential target vulnerabilities."
The analysts quoted in the magazine said they didn't believe that any part of Syria's electrical grid was shut down, but did contend that network penetration involved both remote air-to-ground electronic attack as well as penetration through computer-to-computer links.
"Offensive and defensive network warfare is one of the most interesting new areas," said Pinchas Buchris, director-general of the Israeli Defense Ministry. "I can only say we're following this technology closely. I doubted this field five years ago, but we did it. Now everything's changed.
"You need this kind of capability," added Buchris. "You're not being responsible if you're not dealing with it; and if you can have this kind of capability, than the sky's the limit."