Israel and the U.S.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the United States increased security assistance by $75 million for Israel in May. At the state memorial service for those who died in the 1967 Six-Day War, Netanyahu emphasized that even with the assistance from the United States, the security of Israel depends on Israel’s ability to defend itself.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley toured a Hamas-dug attack tunnel on June 8 and received briefings from Israel Defense Forces officers and UNIFIL (United Nations’ Interim Force in Lebanon) personnel. The day before her visit to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, Haley, in meeting with Israeli leaders, promised to end the ”bullying” of the Jewish state at the United Nations.
A U.S.-Israeli anti-ballistic missile system is being created in Alaska to support Israel’s ballistic missile defense system. The system was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries and will be part of an $80.4 million contract between Alaska Aerospace Corporation and the Missile Defense Agency. Testing of the system starts in 2018.
After President Donald Trump reportedly shared confidential information from Israel with Russian diplomats in May, Israel changed its intelligence-sharing protocols with the United States. Israeli defense chief Avigdor Liberman would not reveal what changes were made.
Israel
The Czech Republic will send a defense industries staff member to Israel who will be responsible for research, development and defense purchases. The new position will be part of a Defense Pilot Program to help Czech and Israeli defense companies know their counterparts better.
Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba met with chief of the general staff of Israeli Defense Forces on Monday, in Israel, to discuss ways to strengthen defense and security ties between India and Israel. He also visited the headquarters of the Israeli Defense Forces and met the director-general of Israel’s Defense Ministry to talk about issues relating to bilateral security cooperation.This visit comes before the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Israel.
Israeli Military Technology
The Israel Defense Forces have ordered 5,000 units of the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) TopGun course correction fuze, and will fully use the system by 2019. The TopGun is an add-on guidance kit that can reach a circular error (a measure of a weapon system’s precision) of 32.8 feet up to 24.9 miles.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems revealed its fifth generation Spike multipurpose missile which has a noteworthy increase in range and can be fired from a variety of vehicles including helicopters, ships and ground launchers. The multipurpose missile was designed to use against modern targets and new enhancements permit the missiles to be fired to grid target coordinates.
Foreign Military Sales
The Israel Aerospace Industries will build a training center in China where Israeli teams will teach the Chinese how to sustain passenger aircraft.
Regional Developments
After months of discussion, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to sell the S-400 missile defense system, an anti-aircraft missile defense system, to Turkey, however, no agreement has been signed yet. Many world governments have indicated interest in purchasing the S-400 system.
Madison Jackson compiled this report.
