{"id":1845982,"date":"2023-10-15T11:03:08","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T03:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=1845982"},"modified":"2023-10-18T03:32:27","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T19:32:27","slug":"us-moving-quickly-to-boost-israels-military-a-look-at-what-aid-its-providing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/1845982\/us-moving-quickly-to-boost-israels-military-a-look-at-what-aid-its-providing","title":{"rendered":"US moving quickly to boost Israel’s military. A look at what aid it’s providing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE – The USS Gerald R. Ford, arrives in Halifax on Oct. 28, 2022. Within hours of the horrific attack by Hamas, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region to be ready to provide Israel with whatever it needs to respond.(Andrew Vaughan\/The Canadian Press via AP, File)<\/p><\/div>\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Within hours of the horrific attack by Hamas<\/a>, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region to be ready to provide Israel with whatever it needed to respond.<\/p>\n

A second U.S. carrier strike group departs from Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday. Scores of aircraft are heading to U.S. military bases around the Middle East. Special operations forces are now assisting Israel’s military in planning and intelligence. The first shipment of additional munitions has already arrived.<\/p>\n

More is expected, soon. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will arrive in Israel Friday to meet with Israeli leaders to discuss what else the U.S. can provide.<\/p>\n

For now, the buildup reflects U.S. concern that the deadly fighting between Hamas and Israel could escalate into a more dangerous regional conflict. So the primary mission for those ships and warplanes is to establish a force presence that deters Hezbollah, Iran or others from taking advantage of the situation. But the forces the U.S. sends are capable of more than that.<\/p>\n

A look at what weapons and options the U.S. military could provide:
\nWEAPONS AND SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES<\/p>\n

The U.S. is providing some personnel and much-needed munitions to Israel. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that a small special operations cell was now assisting Israel with intelligence and planning, and providing advice and consultations to the Israeli Defense Forces on hostage recovery efforts. Those forces, however, have not been tasked with hostage rescue, which would put them on the ground fighting in the conflict. That’s something the Biden administration has not approved and White House spokesman John Kirby has said the Israelis do not want.<\/p>\n

The U.S. is also getting U.S. defense companies to expedite weapons orders by Israel that were already on the books. Chief among those are munitions for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome,\u201d President Joe Biden said Tuesday. \u201cWe\u2019re going to make sure that Israel does not run out of these critical assets to defend its cities and its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iron Dome\u2019s missiles target rockets that approach its cities. According to Raytheon, Israel has 10 such systems in place. Beginning with Saturday’s attack, Hamas has fired more than 5,000 rockets at Israel, most of which the system has been able to intercept, according to the Israel Defense Forces.<\/p>\n

Raytheon produces most of the missile components for Iron Dome in the U.S., and the Army has two systems in its stockpile.<\/p>\n

The Iron Dome munitions the U.S. provides to Israel will likely be above and beyond what Israel has ordered and will be part of ongoing military assistance packages. Those packages will also include small diameter bombs and JDAM kits \u2014 essentially a tail fin and navigation kit that turns a \u201cdumb\u201d bomb into a \u201csmart\u201d bomb and enables troops to guide the munition to a target, rather than simply dropping it.<\/p>\n