What is the “Blue Spear” missile system Israel refused to give to Ukraine? , Israel’s defense ministry on Saturday denied reports that it had agreed a deal Request To send Blue Spear land-to-sea missile systems from Estonia to Ukraine.
Estonia purchased several Blue Spear missile systems from Israel Aerospace Industries in October last year and has since requested authorization from Israel to transfer at least one of those systems to Ukraine.
Ukraine reporter Rostislav Demchuk claimed on Friday that Israel complied with Estonia’s request to transfer one of its Blue Spear missile systems to Ukraine, but both Estonia and Israel have denied the reports.
What is Blue Spear Missile System?
The Blue Spear is a land-to-sea missile system for sea-skimming anti-ship missiles in the Gabriel family. The weapon is manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and was first developed for the Israeli Navy in the 1960s.
The Blue Spear missile system was the result of a joint project by Singapore’s ST Engineering and IAI. The partnership resulted in a joint venture company called Proteus Advanced Systems, which designs, develops and manufactures the Blue Spear.
Proteus shared new video footage of the latest new missile system in February this year. The footage was accompanied by a statement explaining how both flight profile and mission execution can be programmed by the missile’s operators, but can also be highly automated when necessary.
A fifth generation surface-to-surface missile, the Blue Spear can be used in both fire-and-forget and fire and updated modes – where “fire-and-forget” refers to the missile being fired to locate the target. to fire and release itself, and “fire-and-update” means operators can change the missile’s trajectory once fired.
The missile system’s warhead uses a radar-homing seeker and beyond-line-of-sight technology to ensure that it achieves maximum accuracy even when the GPS system is obstructed. The missile is equipped with multiple systems designed to ensure that it can find a moving or stationary target, and the missile can hit targets up to 400 km away.
why it matters
Since the outbreak of the war, Israel has refused to support Ukraine’s military efforts against invading Russian forces in the same way as NATO countries. Israel has positive diplomatic relations with both Russia and Ukraine, and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also sought to mediate a peace deal between the two countries.
False reports that Israel was ready to hand over arms to Ukraine would damage its diplomatic ties with Russia.
In March, Bennett flew to Moscow to discuss the possibility of mediating a peace deal between the two countries. The Israeli leader described his country’s approach to the conflict as “measured and responsible”. Despite publicly pledging support to Ukraine, Israel has largely escaped public criticism from Russian leaders.
After traveling to Europe just weeks after the conflict, Bennett described his work as a “moral obligation” to facilitate peace between the countries.
According to a May 3 report by Haaretz, Israeli officials are planning to expand aid to Ukraine by sending military aid and supplies to the country. Israel is not expected to send any heavy artillery or weapons, but will take a “substantial step” to increase its support to Ukraine.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-terrorism researcher and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the UK, Europe and the US, he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalism, and reports on Western governments’ perspectives on today’s pressing issues. His books and research papers explore these topics and propose practical solutions for our increasingly polarized society.
