Defense sources: Air Force can't repeat Gaza successes in bigger war

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In the event of a large-scale future war, the Israel Air Force will not be able to provide the same kind of close aerial support it gave ground troops during the recent operation in the Gaza Strip, military sources said recently.

IAF officials said various factors, such as the limited number of aircraft and the enemy's increased capabilities, meant the force would likely not be able to repeat the largely successful model of cooperation with ground forces during Operation Cast Lead, on a broader scale, should the need arise.

"Hezbollah and the Syrian army are not Hamas," a senior IAF officer said. "We cannot assume that things will be the same in a bigger war." During Operation Cast Lead the IAF implemented a number of changes that it learned from the Second Lebanon War in 2006. For instance, an air force liaison officer was assigned to every battalion and brigade. Liaisons coordinated evacuation of soldiers and strikes on targets on the ground. Also, every brigade was given an attack helicopter squadron capable of striking targets identified by troops on the ground.

Over 1,000 Hellfire and Orev missiles were fired by Israeli helicopters during the operation. An order to use only laser-guided weapons was given to minimize collateral damage. IAF sources stated that as a result, most incidents of friendly fire were not caused by their own force, but rather by tank or other fire.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1062700.html

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1. Olmert allocates NIS 2.4b to rearm IDF after Gaza offensive

Outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert has ordered to allocate NIS 2.4 billion to the defense establishment following the Israel Defense Forces offensive in the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported Monday.

The Finance Ministry had initially agreed to allocate NIS 1.4 billion to the defense budget but Olmert on Monday raised the sum by NIS 1 billion, according to the report.

The defense establishment would allot NIS 800 million of its own budget to rehabilitating the IDF in wake of the Gaza operation.

Officials from the bureau of Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio that the increase in defense budget would go towards re-equipping the army. This would entail funneling more money to the Israel defense industry.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1062784.html