After another successful anti-ballistic missile defense system test, Israel added a layer of protection to its skies.
By: World Israel News Staff
Israel’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced Monday that it had conducted another successful trial of the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic defense system.
The test was conducted at a site in central Israel and was led by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in collaboration with the Israeli Air Force (IAF), the MoD stated.
The Defense Ministry stated the Arrow-3 Interceptor was “launched and completed its mission.”
Israel has previously conducted successful tests with the interceptor.
The system, jointly funded and developed by Israel and the US’ Missile Defense Agency (MDA), provides outer-atmospheric interception of ballistic missiles. The Arrow 3 provides another layer of defense, supplementing the already operational Arrow 2 defensive system.
The Arrow-3 interceptor capabilities enable longer range, higher altitude exo-atmospheric interception and more precise ballistic missile engagements.
The Arrow 3 is the only interceptor that does not carry a warhead, but intercepts an incoming missile by crashing into it.
The combined interception capabilities of the Arrow-2 and Arrow-3, key parts of Israel’s multi-layered defense system, significantly reduce the possibilities of ballistic missiles striking the State of Israel.
The Arrow 3 anti-ballistic defense system became operational in January 2017.
In March 2017, Israel deployed for the first time an Arrow 2 interceptor at an incoming missile from Syria
The Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 join Israel’s broad defensive systems, which include the highly successful Iron Dome system and David’s Sling, designed to contend with mid-range missiles. They provide an almost hermetic defense against a wide array of ballistic projectiles, with eyes on the Iranian ballistic threat and those posed by the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
The Arrow 3 defense system was awarded Israel’s Defense Prize in June.