IDF is working on “Underground Iron Dome” to stop terror tunnels
IDF forces have been working with Americans to build specialized tunnels designed to dismantle the ones built by Hamas. Last week Foreign Policy reported that the IDF is calling this program the “Underground Iron Dome”.
Seismic sensor and other sensitive equipment are being installed in these specialized tunnels to listen and detect underground vibrations caused by movement or tunnel building. These specialized sensors enable IDF forces to destroy underground Hamas tunnels before weapons and people can move into sensitive areas. This anti-tunnel tunnel operation will help protect Israeli civilians from surprise attacks and soldier abductions.
In the Foreign Policy report, US defense department spokesman Christopher Sherwood said that the goal of this operation is “to establish anti-tunnel capabilities to detect, map, and neutralize underground tunnels that threaten the US or Israel.”
The IDF has allocated over $25o million to this project and the United States contributed an additional $40 million.
Much of this project is classified due to the sensitivity of the operation.
The digging of the “Underground Iron Dome” could be connected to the half dozen Hamas tunnel collapses which have occurred over the the past few months. When asked by the Palestinian Maan News Agency if Israel’s project caused the acceleration in Hamas tunnel collapses, IDF Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai responded enigmatically, saying only, “God knows”.
This secret underground tunnel destroying weapon may help turn the tide against underground terror operations.