AIR DEFENSE.

AIR DEFENSE. This is an interesting enough analysis of Hezbollah's efforts to contest Israeli control of the airspace over Lebanon. It's made the rounds a bit in right blogistan for its Syria/Iran connection content, and I certainly wouldn't vouch for the specific intelligence. Nevertheless, it makes sense that Hezbollah would try to expand its anti-air capability. After all, in the last go-around Hezbollah shocked the Israelis by displaying an anti-ship capability.

Unconfirmed reports, from sources close to IDF intelligence, indicated that this week, Hezbollah had officially formed its new air defense wing, for which several hundred graduates had just ended their training in Iran, learning how to use air defense missiles in combat. According to these reports, a group of specially selected Hezbollah trainees were flown from Damascus to Tehran early March to start a six week training session held by Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) instructors at the Imam Ali base.

This isn't part of an air defense network that's going to defend all of Lebanon, or even score many kills against Israeli platforms. The purpose is to change Israeli behavior, and reduce the effectiveness of close air support and air rescue in case of another conflict. On those narrow grounds, an expanded capable might prove quite effective.

--Robert Farley