A growing concern for any country is the threat of missile attacks, whether it’s part of a larger political war or as an act of terror. While the real concerns may not lie with the missile itself, more likely the aftermath and political repercussions, a key strategy for countries facing any such threat is evacuating people to safe areas away from the strike zone. Currently air raid sirens are used to identify and alert cities that are at risk of a rocket attack following a hostile launch. But these alerts are not always effective. Back in June Home Front Command conducted a five-day missile drill to help prepare Israelis and ensure everyone could get to a safe zone. According to a poll conducted by the Home Front Command, 46% to 60% of the general public drilled got to a safe zone when they heard the siren. Leaving almost half of the population in dangerous hot spots.
With this in mind, the Home Front Command has announced that within two years they hope to install a rocket alert system in Israel that will be able to calculate the precise location of an impact zone, and alert residents in affected neighbourhoods via their mobile phones. Col. Dr. Chilik Soffer, head of the population department at the Home Front Command, said that advanced rocket sensors would soon be able to calculate the projectile’s exact landing site, “the rocket sensor will create a virtual ellipse and all the phones in that area will receive a warning”.
In a bid to increase the number of people that make it to the safe zones the alert will take four forms, mobile phone vibration, an audio alert, light flash or text message, “The more specific the alert, the more ready people will be” Soffer also stressed the importance of getting alerts to communities early. Around 90% of civilian casualties sustained in Israel during the second Lebanon war involved people who were struck by projectiles while they were in open areas, away from buildings. Civilians who seek cover in designated safe areas during rocket attacks are not likely to be wounded or killed.
If the Home Front Command can devise an advanced system, no doubt it will be rolled out worldwide. Despite the obvious positives, saving thousands of civilian lives there is the possibility that these alerts could be sent to warn the targets, therefore ruining any mission objective. Although if technology has advanced to receiving rocket impact estimations to a mobile phone one would assume it wont be too long until similar technology is made to counteract it.
