Israeli air force works to prepare for future conflicts: report

Facing a growing anti-aircraft and ballistic missile threat against Israel, the Israel Air Force (IAF) plans to conduct special seminars to prepare pilots and ground crews for future conflicts, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

The seminar will first be held for pilots who, in a future conflict with Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria or Iran, are expected to have to deal with an unprecedented number of surface-to-air missiles, most of them Russian-made, said the report.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, is believed to have a number of shoulder-to-air missiles. Hezbollah is also known to have such missiles and Israel is concerned that Syria may transfer advanced missile systems to the Lebanese group.

The IAF's greatest challenge, though, is in Iran, which is working to obtain the S-300, one of the most advanced air defense systems in the world, said the newspaper.

The S-300 has a reported ability to track up to 100 targets simultaneously while engaging up to 12 at the same time. It has a range of about 200 km and can hit targets at altitudes of 90,000 feet.

The mental preparation will not be limited to pilots, said the report, adding that the seminar will also be held for ground crews stationed at IAF bases, which all currently fall within the range of Hezbollah and Hamas missiles.

"We need to strengthen the human factor in the air force so they are prepared for all these different possibilities," a senior IAF officer was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

In addition, the IAF has recently started using a virtual reality system for its pilots to practice evading heat-seeking missiles, according to the newspaper.

Till now, the IAF has trained its pilots to deal with the anti-aircraft threat by activating its own air defense system and having it lock on to the training fighter jets. This, however, was considered costly and ineffective.