The test was created to determine whether Israel could withstand a mass missile attack by using defense missile systems after communications on an impending attack were dispatched by USA facilities around the world. The trial, the first such test in eight years, examined the anti-missile systems developed in Israel with USA aid, such as the Arrow 3 missile and the David’s Sling system. Its system includes Iron Dome, which stops low-accuracy rockets like those fired by Hamas from the Gaza Strip; Arrow-3, which could be used to stop Iranian long-range nuclear ballistic missiles by, in the words of The Washington Post, “knock [ing] out enemy targets in space by deploying ‘kamikaze satellites, ‘ or ‘kill vehicles, ‘ that track their targets”; and David’s Sling, which intercepts medium-range missiles like those controlled by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Advertisement
The Israeli systems participating in the synchronization were the David’s Sling missile interception system and the Arrow antimissile systems – both the current one and Arrow 3, which has not yet become operational.
The system features an advanced phased array radar, command and control, as well as mobile launchers and missiles.
The ministry said the test marked “another milestone in the missile defense program”. 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.
The Israel Missile Defense Organization and the US Missile Defense Agency have successfully conducted a test to check the integration of the two countries defense systems.
The David’s Sling system, also known as Magic Wand, completed a final set of major tests in December 2015 and was declared operational. It reportedly ended on June 22 after five days.
Missile defense is a central issue in the ongoing talks towards a memorandum of understanding between the two countries that is to outline cooperation for the next decade.
Advertisement
According to a report in The New York Times, the next 10-year deal could top $40 billion, and would include a decade-long pledge to fund Israel’s missile defense systems, an arrangement now funded separately in yearly installments. Over 1,700 USA soldiers and contractors joined together with the Israeli Defense Force to address simulated missile defense scenarios.
