Tel Aviv – Israel and the United States successfully tested an Arrow 3 military rocket for the first time, firing it and scoring a hit on a ballistic missile target, the Israeli Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
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While it “might be true” that the allies were alone in having such proven capabilities, “Israel is not on the level of the US”, Yair Ramati, head of anti-missile systems at the Defence Ministry, told reporters.
The Arrow 3 is meant to provide defense against ballistic missiles even before they enter the atmosphere using a kinetic explosion at great altitude.
A similar attempt to shoot down an incoming target conducted a year ago failed, with the test being changed at the last minute from a real-world “engagement test”, in which the system would attempt to shoot down an incoming missile, to a far less dramatic target-tracking exercise.
The anti-missile shield is being developed jointly by Israel and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
Iran, which calls for Israel’s eradication, also has missiles which can reach Israel and beyond. According to reports, the launch of the Arrow 3 interceptor missile had to be canceled as it had failed to lock on to its target missile.
Past year a previous test of Israel’s upgraded Arrow 3 missile shield ended in failure.
The United States has its own system for intercepting ballistic missiles in space, Aegis, but a senior Israeli official played down any comparison with Arrow 3.
The Arrow 3 is one of several anti-missile systems Israel is developing to defend itself against different range missiles.
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The Block 4.5 AWS tested Thursday includes the Super Green Pine radar by IAI’s Elta Systems, the Citron Tree Battle Management Center and the Hazlenut Tree Launcher Control Center by Elbit Systems.
