Click here to watch: Arrow 3 Missile Downs Ballistic Target in First Successful Interception

Israel and the United States successfully shot down a target with the Arrow 3 ballistic missile interceptor on Thursday morning, the first validation of the advanced system’s capabilities, the Defense Ministry said. The ministry said that the interceptor successfully calculated and engaged the launched target, in what was called “a major milestone” for Israel’s missile defense system capabilities. “The missile successfully tracked the target and killed it,” said Yair Ramati, director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization. The Arrow 3 is designed to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere, intercepting the weapons and their nuclear, biological or chemical warheads close to their launch sites. Yoav Turgeman, the general manager of the Israel Aerospace Industry’s missile division, which developed the system, said the trial was “a perfect test.” “We launched the Arrow 3 and, for the first time with the Arrow 3, we have intercepted the right target, very accurately, as planned,” Turgeman said.

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The interceptor was launched from the Palmahim air base in central Israel at an incoming missile fired by an air force jet toward the waters off Israel’s coast, the ministry said. Ramati said the test took place at 8:12 a.m. Similar tests have sometimes caught Israelis off guard and caused minor panics in the urban center of the country. The Arrow 3, which Israel has been developing with the United States since 2008, is a major part of the multi-layered air defense array that Israel has designed to protect itself against a range of missile threats — from short-range rockets fired from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, to longer-range threats like a missile launch from Iran. It serves as the uppermost layer of a system that also includes the Iron Dome short-range interceptor, David’s Sling medium-range battery and Arrow 2 long-range system. The Arrow 3 missile interceptors are designed to intercept more than five ballistic missiles within 30 seconds at altitudes of over 100 kilometers (62 miles). High-altitude interceptions are meant to safely destroy an incoming nuclear, biological or chemical warhead, before its target or trajectory is identified.

Source: Times of Israel

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