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Occupied Jerusalem: Israel has received an advanced US-made radar, staffed by American personnel, as part of preparations to fend off any future ballistic missile attack by Iran, officials involved in the deployment said on Sunday.
The arrival of the X-band radar is a gauge of the depth of defence ties between Israel and the US. But by cementing Israel's dependency on its ally, it may boost Washington's power to veto unilateral Israeli action aimed at denying Iran access to nuclear weapons.
The X-band was stationed this month at Nevatim military base in southern Israel, which regularly hosts joint Israeli-US air defence drills, officials said. The radar came with a long-term American garrison which Israel Radio put at some 120 personnel.
Threats
"This is a major upgrade in bilateral preparations for the threats facing Israel," said the official, who declined to be identified. Asked to elaborate, the official pointed to Iran and Syria.
The X-band system has been described by US officials as capable of tracking an object the size of a baseball from 4,700km away.
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