Israel Successfully Test Fires Arrow 3 Missile System
The Homa administration of the Israeli Defense Ministry, together with the US Missile Defense Agency, conducted a successful flight test of the Arrow 3 missile defense system on Monday morning
The Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) and the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) conducted a successful test of the long-range Arrow 3 missile defense system early Monday morning. The Arrow 3 is designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside the earth’s atmosphere.
The test was conducted in central Israel, led by the Israel Aerospace Industries with the participation of the Israel Air Force.
According to IMOD's announcement, the test was concluded successfully after it was finally launched at 2:30am following two cancellations between December and January. In December, a test was canceled over safety concerns and in January, another test was called off because of a data transfer problem.
The Arrow 3 system is a central component of the multi-layered defense system developed by the Ministry of Defense through the Homa administration of the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D, aka MAFAT). The layout is based on four operational systems: David's Sling, Iron Dome, Arrow 2, and Arrow 3.
The primary contractor for the integration and development of the Arrow 3 system is the MLM Division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) along with the American Boeing Company and Israel's Elta, Elbit Systems, IMI Systems, and Rafael.
The success of Monday’s test constitutes an important milestone in Israel's operational ability to defend itself against existing and future threats in the region, IMOD said in its statement.
The Arrow 3 system was delivered to the Israeli Air Force for operational use in January 2017.