Israel successfully tests Arrow space missile interceptor
Arrow III, an upgraded component of the Israeli missile shield, was successfully tested for the second time, the country’s Defense Ministry announced. The kamikaze satellites launched by the system are capable of intercepting missiles in space.
A long-range Arrow III interceptor was fired from Palmahim air
base, south of Tel Aviv, on Friday morning. It left the Earth’s
atmosphere, carried out maneuvers in space and having fulfilled
its mission fell into the Mediterranean. The test lasted 10
minutes. No real missiles were targeted.
"The Arrow III interceptor successfully launched and flew an
exo-atmospheric trajectory through space," Israel's Defense
Ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The kamikaze satellites, fired by the Arrow III system, have been
also known as "kill vehicles." They are able to identify and
trail chemical, biological or nuclear warheads above the Earth's
atmosphere. The interceptors then ram into the missiles and
destroy then at an altitude, where the disintegration is safe.
The kind of missiles Arrow III can intercept are used by Iran and
Syria, and are believed to be held by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Yair Ramati, head of the Defense Ministry's Israel Missile
Defense Organization, says that the country needs the upgraded
version of Arrow as part of its missile defense in a region where
"all sides are improving.”
“We need to be one step ahead," he was cited as saying
by The Jerusalem Post.
Friday’s test was according to Israeli Defense Ministry visited
by US officials, as the Pentagon together with US firm Boeing are
partners in the project run by state-owned Israel Aerospace
Industries (IAI).
The first successful trial of Arrow III was held in February
2013. The interceptor was then sent up an altitude of 100
kilometers.
Arrow III is expected to become operational not later than 2016.
The system’s previous version, Arrow II, which has been deployed
for more than a decade has reportedly scored around a 90 percent
success rate in live trials.
The three-tier Israeli missile shield consists of the long-range
Arrow intercepting system, the mid-range "David's
Sling" , still under development, and the successfully
operating short-range "Iron Dome."
