News Brief — Sept 9, 2014
Israeli Defense Minister Ya’alon at Tuesday’s Arrow-2 test. Click to enlarge
The U.S. and Israeli conducted a joint missile test Tuesday to test the Arrow-2 missile interceptor. However, according to DEBKAfile, a website with links to Israel’s intelligence community, the test was only partially successful.
The test was also monitored by Russia’s Missile Attack Warning System, an official in Moscow told the Russian media.
According to Major-General Igor Konashenkov, the Armavir Radar
Station in Western Russia had monitored the Arrow-2s flight for 40
seconds before it fell into the sea.
“The trajectory of the missile went through the central part of the
Mediterranean Sea and was heading towards its east coast. It fell into
the sea around 300 kilometers north of Tel Aviv,” he said.
Work on the Arrow-2 was started by Israel Aerospace Industries in
2000 in cooperation with the U.S. Boeing corporation. According to a
spokesman from the Israeli Defense Ministry, the Arrow 2 system has been
operational for years and is intended to counter long-range threats.
Although the Arrow-2 is operational however, it is believed that
Tuesday’s test was conducted to evaluate improvements in the missile.
Israeli media reported
that Ashdod residents witnessed the test operation, which was supposed
to simulate a rocket attack from Iran on southern Israel.
Although at this stage it is still unknown whether flight engineers
deliberately terminated the test in order to prevent loss of life in
Israel. Or whether it was an onboard malfunction that caused the Arrow-2
to fall into the sea.
Either way, a “partial success” in a high-tech anti-missile system amounts to a total failure.
Unlike the Iron Dome anti-missile system, Arrow-2 has yet to be used
in combat. In contrast to the Iron Dome system however, Arrow-2 has
been designed to intercept longer range ballistic missiles. Such as
those held by Iran like the Ashoura and the Sejil-2, both of which have sufficient range to hit Israel.
Iran is thought to keep both missiles on standby in underground silos and mobile missile launchers in readiness to retaliate should Israel launch air strikes on Iran.
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