In Star Trek, the original series, episode 23 – A taste of Armageddon, the planets Eminiar VII and Vendikar have been at war with each other for centuries. When the war first started it was destructive and messy but, being civilized, the combatants devised a way to clean it up.
By the time Captain Kirk arrives on the scene, the war is being fought entirely by computers, which simulate attacks and counter-attacks. The machines calculate the results of each action and publish a list of casualties. Those named as having been killed voluntarily report for disintegration. It is a clean war. There is no destruction of property and those not named as casualties hardly notice it. That is precisely why the war has been going on for more than 500 years.
Captain Kirk destroys the computers. Facing the prospect of real combat, the enemies sue for peace.
Compare this story with events on planet Gaza, where the enemy, planet Israel, is conducting highly sanitized attacks that kill only named targets, without collateral damage. On the other hand, Gazans terrorize Israelis with random shelling of homes and schools. Like the Star Trek Eminiars, the Gazans have no incentive to sue for peace.
Why the Israelis continue to invest in technologies that further reduce damage to their tormentors is unfathomable.
The Israeli Air Force has acquired upgraded weapons systems that have improved its ability to strike terrorists with minimal or no collateral damage.
“We try to hit only terrorists,” explained a senior IAF commander in an interview with the Associated Press news agency. “There is a trend of very dramatic improvement in the ratio of hitting the terrorists and not hitting the uninvolved. We are very proud of it,” he said.
Even the left-wing group B’Tzelem agreed. The group’s spokesperson Sarit Michaeli said, “The Air Force is becoming more efficient.” In the past, Palestinian Authority Arabs in Gaza have sometimes been wounded or killed by missile strikes on terrorists’ homes and vehicles – a situation brought about by the terrorists’ practice of using civilians as human shields.
The international community and many home-grown left wing groups have criticized Israel for mistakes in which non-combatant civilians are accidentally injured or killed.
A recent strike in which a terrorist mastermind in Gaza was assassinated without harming nearby civilians was cited by AP as one example of the IAF’s use of the new technology. Improved missiles are also now able to hit targets inside buildings without causing major damage.
The ability to strike terrorists while they are setting up an attack has also zipped ahead. “Pre-planning can [last] between hours and days,” said the IAF commander, “but the reaction time can be very fast.”
Lightning responses can also include the ability to call off an attack at the last minute if need be, change the direction of a missile once it’s been fired, and hit a terrorist cell even before it has managed to launch the rocket it’s working on.
Other New Military Technology on the Horizon
New technology that allows remote detection of explosives and poisonous gases will be unveiled this week at a conference to be held at the College of Ariel, located in the Samarian city with the same name.
Conference organizers pointed out that the increasing severity of terrorist attacks on Israeli citizens has prompted Israeli scientists to develop devices that can detect explosives without endangering IDF personnel.
Military technology experts and researchers from Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), the Ministry of Defense, Hebrew University, and Tel Aviv University are expected to attend.
