The Ministry of Defense today announced that it had recently completed a successful special trial in cooperation with the US Missile Defense Agency testing the connectivity capabilities of missile defense systems stationed in Israel and the systems used by the US.
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The test utilized six systems – the Israeli Arrow 2, Arrow 3, and David’s Sling systems, and the American THAAD, Aegis, and Patriot systems.
The trial was “another milestone in the missile defense program, which is a cooperation between the United States and Israel”, said Israel’s Defense Ministry.
During the test, scenarios consisted of multiple missile and rocket attacks were simulated against Israel with both United States and Israel successfully employing, engaging and destroying the simulated incoming threats.
David’s Sling has already been delivered to the Israel air force, ahead of the declaration of its announcement of the system, created to intercept missiles and heavy rockets, as operational.
The test was carried out by Elisra, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems. The system is slated to be declared operational later this year, after its integration into the Israel Air Force began in March.
The Defense Ministry has announced that the Israeli and American missile defense agencies recently completed a test in which their respective defense systems were successfully linked together.
The “Integrated Ground Test”, the first of its kind with the new defense systems, spanned over five days and ended on June 22. They are meant to ensure Israel can counter threats from neighboring Gaza, south Lebanon and Syria, as well as from an Iran that is relentlessly developing its ballistic missile systems.
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The Arrow 2, Arrow 3 and David’s Sling were joint Israeli-American weapons development projects, while the THAAD, Patriot and Aegis missiles are American-made systems. The trial took place simultaneously at the development centers of the defense companies involved in Israel’s anti-missile defense plan and development centers in the US. Israel is seeking to add hundreds of millions of dollars for missile defense.
