Ever wondered how they know to activate the siren specifically in your residential area, and not in the neighboring city, or in any of the remaining 1,800 warning zones? This is exactly where the MANATZ (Ballistic Image Management Center) system comes into play, unifying the data from all Air Force radars into a single sky picture.
How does this happen? From the moment the system detects a launch, the data flows to the screens of the joint Air Force and Home Front Command complex. There, the missile’s trajectory is calculated with high precision: so that it’s possible to estimate where it was launched from, and in which areas interception debris might fall. Home Front Command controllers activate the siren after receiving this information from the Air Defense soldiers next to them – who are responsible for the system.
Archive photo
Until now, the training for the latter was split: they enlisted in the Air Defense School, underwent four full months of training on the ‘David’s Sling’ system, and were assigned to Battalion 66. A few of them were converted to operate MANATZ – through an additional month-and-a-half course conducted by male and female soldiers in the unit.
But last week, Sergeant D’ completed her training as the first MANATZ instructor in the Air Defense array, accompanied by Staff Sergeant E’, the professional commander of the ‘David’s Sling’ training, and now also of MANATZ.
“I started as a soldier in the battalion, and later moved to instructor roles at the Air Defense School,” says Staff Sergeant E’, “Part of my responsibility was to improve and refine the content of the training tracks. I felt it was time to push forward the program that has been sitting in a drawer for years – a dedicated course for MANATZ operators that will open right after basic training, at the very stage where soldiers are divided and specialize in the different systems.”
Only one thing was missing to complete the puzzle – an instructional staff. Sergeant D’, who was actually serving as a flight simulator instructor, took on the task. “When they offered me the position, a spark immediately lit up within me,” she shares, “I knew I would be the first, and that I would have to work hard – but also that it would be worth every moment.”
And indeed, to assemble a course from scratch required a lot of preparation and learning. “In the beginning, of course, I didn’t have organized material – just a basic list of presentations. So I sat for hours with every source of information I found, and E’ accompanied me throughout the period, until we built a training program that was as organized and precise as possible,” says Sergeant D’.
Alongside theoretical learning, she spent many days with the male and female soldiers, and of course visited the complex during Operation ‘Lion’s Roar’, in order to learn the system down to the smallest details. “I also wanted to go there during the course and see things with my own eyes. To watch the system and its operators protecting civilians in real-time, that’s a feeling that’s hard to describe in words.”
And starting this week, when Air Defense recruits are directly assigned to the professional MANATZ track, the training that Staff Sergeant E’ and Sergeant D’ worked on will come to life. For the next 4 months, the new trainees will undergo focused theoretical lessons and exams, alongside simulator exercises that mimic a shift in the operational complex. The result, as the two commanders emphasize, is a double benefit: the training has been shortened by a month and a half, and it is also focused on the relevant system, which they will work with during their regular service.
“We are very much looking forward to the moment when we see these soldiers sitting in a classroom, learning this system in an organized and dedicated manner,” concludes Staff Sergeant E’, “These new recruits will officially open the professional chapter of MANATZ at the Air Defense School, and of course we will continue to debrief and evaluate ourselves, in preparation for the next cohorts who are expected to enlist.”