Jerusalem -Israel announced in Jerusalem on Thursday that it successfully tested and launched an Arrow-3 ballistic missile interceptor, the first validation of the country’s most advanced missile defense system.
The Ministry of Defense said the test, which was conducted at a coastal military base south of Tel Aviv, was run jointly by the Israeli Aerospace Industries, the Israeli Air Force, and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
Yossi Weiss, Aerospace Industries CEO, said the missile interceptor operates outside the earth’s atmosphere, and was designed to seek and destroy advanced ballistic missiles close to their launch sites.
He said the project was jointly developed by the Aerospace Industries’ subsidiary Elta and the U.S.-based Boeing Company.
Weiss described the successful test as a significant milestone and a major step in Israel’s operational capability of one of its most important projects.
The defense ministry said the test result analyses revealed that the system successfully calculated the trajectory of a Sparrow target missile, and then struck it dozens of kilometers above earth.
It disclosed that Israel was already equipped with an anti-missile defense system, called Iron Dome, which includes nine batteries deployed throughout the country from north to south.
“Iron Dome’s purpose is to shoot down short-range rockets.
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“Long-range missiles on the other hand are intercepted by Israel’s Arrow 2 missiles, deployed throughout the country’’, it said.
Iron Dome was usefully used during Israel’s 51-day offensive against the Gaza Strip last summer. (Xinhua/NAN)