JERUSALEM, Sept 28: The US has provided Israel with an advanced radar system that will give it early warning in case of an Iranian missile attack, Israeli defence officials said on Sunday, giving Israel a new tool in what is potentially the Mideast’s deadliest feud.

The system was delivered last week by US military aircraft, the officials said. It has been set up temporarily at the Nevatim air base in the Negev desert and will likely be moved to a permanent site in the next few months.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the radar’s arrival has not been officially made public.

Defence News, the US weekly that first reported the system’s deployment, identified it as a high-powered radar known as FBX-T and said it will be hooked up to the US military’s Joint Tactical Ground Station.

That system, assisted by satellites, can pick up a ballistic missile shortly after launch and estimate the time and location of its impact. Those capabilities will cut the response time of Israel’s Arrow anti-missile system, which currently works with a less advanced radar.

The report said the system arrived along with a crew of some 120 American military personnel. Israeli officials said the American deployment was open-ended.

The Israeli military did not confirm or deny the report on Sunday.

“For years, the Israel Defence Forces have carried on strategic cooperation with the arms of the US military. This cooperation is conducted in different ways as a matter of routine. As a rule, we do not detail content related to these channels of cooperation between the militaries,” it said.

The new system gives Israel an advantage but “is not something that changes the game,” said Avi Schnurr, who heads the Israel Missile Defence Association. How much of an advantage the system provides depends on factors like where the incoming missiles are launched from, he said.

“When you have longer-range acquisition you have more opportunity to launch your own missiles earlier, to acquire, track and engage an incoming missile,” he said. Schnurr said it would take a missile “several minutes” to reach Israel from Iran.

Ephraim Kam, an analyst at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, called the new system an “important addition” to Israel’s defence.

The Arrow’s current radar, known as Green Pine, can pick up incoming missiles at a range of 500 to 600 miles, he said. The new system has a range of around 1,200 miles, giving Israel vital minutes to respond by launching interceptors.

The distance between Jerusalem and Tehran is just over 900 miles.

Kam said the US was sending a message with the new system that “they are against any attack by Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities at this time but cannot leave us without protection.”

At the same time, he said the system will allow Israel to better defend itself if the US or Israel do decide to strike. The ambiguity, he said, was intended to send a message to Iran that either option was still possible.

Before the 1991 Gulf War, the US dispatched Patriot missile batteries to protect Israeli cities against Iraqi Scud attacks. It was not immediately clear how long the US personnel attached to the new radar system would remain in Israel. Kam suggested Israel might train its own personnel to replace the Americans.

Still, Israel has signaled it is preparing for a strike. It has purchased 90 F-16I fighter planes that can reach Iran, and will receive 11 more by the end of next year. It has bought two new Dolphin submarines from Germany reportedly capable of firing nuclear-armed warheads _ in addition to the three it already has.—AP