Israeli official: Arrow can block Iranian missiles
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 3 March: 17.08 CET) – Israel's Arrow 2 anti-ballistic missile system is now capable of intercepting and destroying any Iranian missile, according to a senior Israeli military official interviewed by the Jerusalem Post.
Referring to Iran's ballistic missile program, the unidentified high ranking military officer told the newspaper that "We will shoot all of [Iran's missiles] down […] .The Arrow knows how to intercept the Shihab missile."
He explained that modifications had been made to the Arrow 2 that allow it to differentiate between armed decoys and real missiles and to detect even split warhead missiles.
The Post noted that last year the Israeli military acknowledged that the Arrow 2 was incapable of intercepting Iran's Shihab-3 missile.
The head of the Israeli air force's anti-aircraft units, Brigadier-General Ilan Bitton, told a government committee in 2005 that while the Arrow was extremely effective against the Scud missiles in Syria's arsenal, it "needed improvement" in order to shoot down the Shihab-3.
In its most recent test, the Arrow 2 succeeded in destroying a mock of the Shihab-3 at a far greater height than in the previous 13 tests of the system.
Asked by the Post about the danger of the Arrow destroying a nuclear or non-conventional missile over Israel, the officer claimed that the height at which the incoming missile was destroyed would mean that its payload was dispersed without causing casualties.
Israel is protected from missile strikes by Patriot missiles and two operational Arrow batteries, each thought to have hundreds of missiles.
Referring to Iran's ballistic missile program, the unidentified high ranking military officer told the newspaper that "We will shoot all of [Iran's missiles] down […] .The Arrow knows how to intercept the Shihab missile."
He explained that modifications had been made to the Arrow 2 that allow it to differentiate between armed decoys and real missiles and to detect even split warhead missiles.
The Post noted that last year the Israeli military acknowledged that the Arrow 2 was incapable of intercepting Iran's Shihab-3 missile.
The head of the Israeli air force's anti-aircraft units, Brigadier-General Ilan Bitton, told a government committee in 2005 that while the Arrow was extremely effective against the Scud missiles in Syria's arsenal, it "needed improvement" in order to shoot down the Shihab-3.
In its most recent test, the Arrow 2 succeeded in destroying a mock of the Shihab-3 at a far greater height than in the previous 13 tests of the system.
Asked by the Post about the danger of the Arrow destroying a nuclear or non-conventional missile over Israel, the officer claimed that the height at which the incoming missile was destroyed would mean that its payload was dispersed without causing casualties.
Israel is protected from missile strikes by Patriot missiles and two operational Arrow batteries, each thought to have hundreds of missiles.
posted by Marko at 3/03/2006 11:23:00 AM
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