ANALYSIS: Ukraine Receives Israeli Air Defense Early Warning System

The Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, told the Ukrainian Zerkalo Nedeli news site that after several months of discussion and preparation Ukraine has finally received the complete Tzeva Adom (Red Light) missile warning system.

The ambassador pointed out that Israel had only committed to the provision of the system and that Ukraine was responsible for the implementation and integration of the equipment with Ukraine’s existing air defense organization.

Tzeva Adom can identify the launch of missiles, rockets and drones, accurately tracking them in flight and to calculate the likely points and time of impact. In Israel, the system automatically triggers warnings of missile attack in both military and civilian locations. Alerts continue until all missiles are intercepted or have landed and no further launches are detected.

Yevhen Korniychuk, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel speaking to the Ukraine Today.org website said trials of Tzeva Adom had started during early 2023 and suggested the aim was to deploy the system in major cities across Ukraine, where critical infrastructure have been subject to attack. Once operational, the system would rapidly alert civilians of incoming threats from increasingly frequent missile strikes.

Several Ukrainian military issue sites are already questioning why the system is not already operational and complain that Ukrainian authorities have not provided details of why there is a delay. This is hardly surprising if only on grounds of “operational security.” Why would Kyiv reveal if, where and when the system will come online?

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Tzeva Adom is an extremely complex as well as capable system, it should be no surprise that it is taking a while to get it up and working. If only half of what it has done for missile protection in areas under attack from Gaza is replicated in Ukraine, the wait would be worthwhile.