Israel’s Defense Ministry and the IDF’s fence-building administration have completed a 26 meter high fence that will protect the soon to open Assaf and Ilan Ramon Int’l Airport from Kornet missiles etc., should they be fired from Jordan.
Two years after work began on the smart fence capable of stopping Kornet missiles aimed towards Israel’s newest civilian airport, Eilat Ilan and Assaf Ramon International Airport, the 26-meter-high fence been completed.
The fence, which extends 4.5 km, is part of a larger 34-kilometer six-meter-high fence along the Jordanian border which runs from Eilat to Kibbutz Samar north of Timna. It features electronics, sensors and detection technology to ensure that incoming and departing planes are protected from all types of threats.
Jordanian border fence – IDF Spokesperson’s Unit
According to a senior officer in the IDF who is familiar with the project, while the Jordanian border is one of Israel’s quietest as Amman has a strong and effective army which places great emphasis on protecting its borders, a national strategic asset like an airport made the army realize that a fence such as this was needed.
“Someone may fire a missile at the new airport and then it would be gone,” he said. “This fence will stop the missiles.”
The new facility is the first civilian airport to be built in the country since the establishment of the state in 1948 and is being built in the Timna Valley, 19 km. north of Eilat. It will replace Eilat’s J. Hozman Airport located in the city itself as well as Ovda Airport located some 60 km. north of Eilat.
The Eilat Ilan and Assaf Ramon International Airport is expected to handle an estimated two million travelers each year and is set to open in March 2019.
A senior officer in the Defense Ministry and army’s fence-building administration said the fence is based on the model developed for those deployed on the borders of Egypt and in the Golan Heights, but in accordance with the unique topography of the Arava.
Extensive care was put into planning the fence, developed alongside environmental protection authorities in such a way that it would not damage or interfere with the surrounding environment such as water and ecological cross-passages which have been placed along the entire length of the fence to allow for floodwater to flow and animals to pass through.
The project was carried out by dozens of contractors from Defense Ministry’s Engineering and Construction Department, among others. As part of the construction, the ministry cleared some 13 sq.km. of old minefields.
Egyptian-Israel border fence extended in height from 5m to 8m high – Photo: Israel Defense Ministry.
Similar to the barriers on Israel’s other borders, the fence includes new roads, observation towers and other security facilities. Command centers have also been built and all relevant authorities such as the IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Israel Police and Home Front Command will all have access to the intelligence gathered by the sensors.
In addition to protecting the airport, the fence will stop migrants, criminals and terrorists from infiltrating into Israel from Jordan.
The fence along the Egyptian border has slashed the number of illegal African migrants arriving in Israel, with 14,669 infiltrations in 2010 to 213 in 2015, to 14 in 2016. But the number of successful infiltrations prompted authorities to raise the height of the fence from five to eight meters along a 17-kilometer stretch. There have been no infiltrations from Sinai since.
View original The Jerusalem Post publication at:
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/State-of-the-art-smart-fence-to-protect-future-airport-Jordanian-border-557722
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