... How long before the rocket turned into missiles, and then have the range to cover all of Israel. ...Your proposed vaunted CWIS defense system is only a stop gap if Hamas and the Palestinians are allowed to continue their mortar, rocket, and missile assault against Israel. ....
Then Israel must use missiles to shoot down missiles (or perhaps fighter planes on constant patrol -as the US fleet uses CAP, the combat air patrol in "chain saw" mode* to shoot down missiles long before the surface ship radars can even see the threat coming. – This is the so called "outer air battle" - the first layer of fleet defense. CIWS is the last layer. Ship launched SM missiles are the intermediate layers.)
Israel is already very capable in defending it ships against even supersonic sea-skimmer, missile threats. - If, threaten by more adbvanced threads, then more advanced defenses are required, but they already exist and are affordable. I.e. Israel has them already - only needs to buy more, install and coordinate via the nationwide radar system, already in my suggestion (for the counter battery artillery fire at the launch points -Recall I want to "shred every living thing at the launch sites.")
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*Called "Chain saw" mode as at regular intervals (say every X minutes) the battle group carrier launches another CAP plane which flies out beyond the radar horizon, and stays on station for X minutes, before returning for more fuel, perhaps a new pilot, weapons etc. I.e. there may be 20 planes, in the air flying this loop, like the teeth of a chain saw. Israel has a much smaller space to make secure than a battle group on the high seas does -
very "doable." - No more than 5 planes in the air at any time required. (The entire Gaza/ Israel border is only 38 miles long as I recall – easy to keep a couple CAP planes continuously over it if required.) These “on station” planes can also help to "shred any living thing at the launch sites" within minutes of the first launch. Even before the first rocket is fired, if the launcher set up is detectable. (Isreal has some of the world's best under cover agents - I bet they often know when an where laucher are going to be set up, but if some Isrealis must die to justify high kill ratio retaliation, they are not destroyed until a few rockets have been launched.)
SUMMARY the defensive technology already exists and cost less than the tanks used in the current Gaza invasion. It is not used as Israeli wants / needs/ to let a few Israelis die to justify the killing of many more Palestinians and making life a living hell for all, so they will vacated the land (move to another Arab state as approximately half have already) or can be confined entirely to concentrations camps.
Israel has more modern version of the CIWS now installed on its ships and more than enough of the older versions just sitting in naval warehouse to shoot down 100% of these crude Gaza rockets.
If you can offer some other reason why Israeli has chosen to let a few Israelis be killed annually by the crude, slow Gaza rockets for several years, instead of shooting the Gaza rockets down, I would like to hear it. (I do not expect an answer as I have asked many times before.)
PS, even cheaper than CAP would be blimps, on station for more than a day, but that is not old technology - would need to develop strike missile launch from blimp capacity. Probable very simple; Just drop the strike missile and turn its thrusters on after it is safely away from the blimp is less weight than a reloadable safe launcher inside the blimp. Polaris subs ICBMs do not ignite their thruster until they are a second or so travel above the sea from their steam pressure ejection that throws them up and thru the surface. The blimp also has space for high resolution radar that could see the Gaza rocket before it is even on the launcher!
Lets kill these terrorist before they can even launch! (not may children for each terrorist killed)
