Comment on Is there a reason the US is sending 100 of our people to Israel?
kent_eh@lemmy.ca 5 weeks agoThe US has decided it wants those missiles intercepted,
Assuming the weapons system and personnel in question are used exclusively for missile intercept, then this deployment can be seen as an attempt to reduce further escalation of the ongoing conflict.
GBU_28@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
Well it’s an explicitly defensive system.
That said, if it’s use allows Israel to be more brazen, then it’s all zero sum.
kent_eh@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
Yes, that’s what it is named. Government and military projects don’t always have the most transparent naming conventions, though.
Do we know that it isn’t capable of acting in an offensive capacity as well, should those in control of it choose?
GBU_28@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
The system is incredibly expensive and purpose built.
There’s no smoke and mirrors, the US is providing much, much cheaper offensive weapons. There’s be no need to wire up a defensive system for that.
As context, many defensive missiles are pretty low payload, and often (but not always) use a shotgun style blast to hit the intended target. That’s not well suited to ground to ground work, especially when trying to target hardened structures like concrete buildings.
It’s just not the right tool.