Israel aborts Arrow 3 missile test

The anti-ballistic missile system is designed to provide ultimate air defense.

By: Margot Dudkevitch

Israel’s Defense Ministry was forced to abort an Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile system test due to a problem in the transfer of data, the ministry announced Wednesday. It was the second time in just over a month that officials were forced to call off testing the system.

Boaz Levy the general manager and executive VP of Israel Aerospace Industries Systems, Missiles and Space Group said the problem discovered in the December test had since been fixed, and was not related to Wednesday’s flaw.

The Arrow 3 system has better intercepting capabilities and is able to function at a higher altitude and longer distance from Israel. It is designed to provide ultimate air defense by intercepting ballistic missiles when they are still outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Arrow 3 is a joint program developed by Israel and the United States. Last July the US House of Representatives passed a $696 billion defense policy bill, designating $705 million for US and Israeli missile defense cooperation.

Arrow 3IDF