Special Report: Israel’s Offshore and Perimeter Security Conference

Special Report: Israel’s Offshore and Perimeter Security Conference

אילוסטרציה (123rf)

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Illustration (123rf)
Illustration (123rf)

Over 800 visitors are taking part in Israel’s Offshore and Perimeter Security Conference.

The State of Israel and its navy are already protecting the country’s offshore drilling rigs in the Mediterranean, using drones, unmanned patrol ships, manned aircraft, fighters stationed on board the rigs and a large-scale security array that includes intelligence gathering, alerts, sea traffic monitoring, electronic and electro-optic systems, in addition to naval and land radars.

This according to Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eliezer Marom, former Navy commander. Marom gave the first presentation at the Israeli Offshore and Perimeter Security Conference organized by iHLS, taking today in central Israel. Hundreds of local and global offshore security experts are taking part in the event, which includes a display of solutions and platforms designed by ten market-leading companies, all involving coastal security, port security and defending national assets at sea.

“We’re living in a wild jungle alongside plenty of threats,” Marom described the Mediterranean. These threats require the state to defend Israel’s maritime assets using three layers of security:

  • Intelligence. Providing information on the situation at sea, cooperating with neighboring countries, with the relevant energy production companies and with all national intelligence agencies.
  • Situational awareness at sea. Patrols, sensors, drones, radars and aircraft.
  • Defending the drilling rigs. Rigs are protected by advanced systems and response teams.

The former Navy commander added that once Israel officially laid out the borders of its exclusive economic zone, the state is now responsible for keeping the area safe and secure.

Visitors at the conference
Visitors at the conference

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amnon Sofrin, HLS Coordinator at Elta, described the naval threats existing today: Maritime conflicts between states, piracy, smuggling, illegal fishing and illegal immigration. In order to defend a country’s EEZ assets the area has to be monitored, anomalies in traffic or behavior have to be detected and force must be deployed to neutralize hostiles. Offshore defense has many layers: Monitoring, detection, identification, tracking and response. Tools include aircraft, balloons, coastal radars, satellites and ships. “How does it work? A ship gets close to the drill, an aircraft is sent to investigate, information is sent to a coastal control room and a response ship is sent to the location.” Sofrin said that right now a new coastal radar is under development, capable of reaching the depths in addition to having a range of up to 200 kilometers.

Brig. Gen. Ze’ev Zuk-Ram, Vice Chairman of the National Security Academy, talked about national infrastructure security as a component of the market’s ability to function continuously. According to him the mission is to continue production and provide national services even during emergencies, an important component of national security. This operational continuity is comprised of three elements:

  • Existential continuity: A basic necessity which must be maintained at all times
  • Critical infrastructure continuity: Maintaining production and services
  • Basic continuity: Maintaining a certain level of activity in order to support continuity

The Chairman of the conference is Ofer Moldovan. Avi Yariv, co-owner of iHLS, gave some details on the website in the opening address: iHLS is almost two years old now, with 1.4 million visitors from around 200 countries, and a new YouTube channel with 38,000 views.