Israel on Monday said it had successfully tested the Arrow-2 missile defense system, “striking farther and higher than in any previous test.”
It was the ninth test of the anti-ballistic missile system, reported the Jerusalem Post newspaper, adding that the United States had put up most of the funding for the Arrow program and that US officials were on hand for the test.
Officials at Israel Aircraft Industries, the prime contractor for the Arrow-2, said it shot down a live missile, dubbed the Black Sparrow, which was dropped from an IAF F-15 fighter jet at a high altitude and assumed the flight path of an incoming Scud missile.
The Arrow-2 Green Pine radar detected the missile. The Citron fire-control center then launched the Arrow-2 interceptor, which hit the Black Sparrow about 100 kilometers from the coastline, said the officials.
It was the highest and farthest that the Arrow-2 has ever been tested, officials said.
The Jewish state claims that its missile defense system can now intercept the most advanced ballistic missiles developed in the Middle East, according to the Middle East Newsline (MENL).
Israeli officials said this includes Iran's Shihab-3 and Syria's Scud-D missile. The Shihab-3 has a range of 1,300 kilometers and the Scud D has a range of 700 kilometers.
Israeli defense sources were quoted by MENL as saying that the Arrow-2 was fired in a test this month at the Palmahim air force base south of Tel Aviv.
The sources said the Arrow slammed into the Black Sparrow target missile and smashed it to pieces.
"Our system can now handle the Shihab-3," said Aryeh Herzog, director of Israel's Homa missile defense program – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
