Israel Hits Mock Missile With Arrow 3 Interceptor Days After Iran Fires A Rocket At It From Syria

Israel Hits Mock Missile With Arrow 3 Interceptor Days After Iran Fires A Rocket At It From Syria

Israel Hits Mock Missile With Arrow 3 Interceptor Days After Iran Fires A Rocket At It From Syria

Israel, in cooperation with the United States, has conducted a new test of its Arrow 3 ballistic missile defense system. Though both countries said this was a long-planned event, it is hard not to see it, at least in part, as a signal to Iran, which Israeli authorities blamed for a recent rocket launch at their territory from Syria.

Israel Hits Mock Missile With Arrow 3 Interceptor Days After Iran Fires A Rocket At It From Syria
Israel Hits Mock Missile With Arrow 3 Interceptor Days After Iran Fires A Rocket At It From Syria

The Iranians also failed to put a satellite into orbit earlier in January 2019, a launch the U.S. and Israeli governments condemned as a cover for the development of long-range ballistic missiles.

The Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), together with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), launched the Arrow 3 from Palmachim Air Base in Central Israel against a mock ballistic missile on Jan. 22, 2019. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) and the missile defense system’s manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) were also involved in the test.

“The success of this test presents an important milestone in the operational capabilities of the State of Israel in defending itself against current and future existential threats,” Israel’s Defense said in a statement.

“This successful test provides confidence in Israel’s capability to protect itself from existing threats in the region.” U.S. Air Force General Samuel Greaves, the present director of MDA, said in another press release. “We are committed to assisting the government of Israel in upgrading its national missile defense capability against emerging threats.”

Arrow 3 represents the uppermost tier of Israel’s layered missile defenses and can reportedly engage any time of ballistic missile, including higher- and faster-flying intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). The interceptor carries a kinetic kill vehicle that is supposed to physically smash into an incoming threat above the earth’s atmosphere, thereby destroying it before it can pose a danger to anyone on the ground.

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