Arrow missile

Encyclopedia : A : AR : ARR : Arrow missile

Arrow anti-ballistic missile launch

The Arrow Interceptor (טיל חץ, Hebrew: "Til Hetz") is a theater missile defense (TMD) system; it is the first missile developed by Israel that was specifically designed and built to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles on a national level. It is the only anti-ballistic missile system able to intercept its targets high in the stratosphere.

The Arrow project got underway after the U.S. and Israel agreed to co-fund it on May 6, 1986.[link]. The Arrow ABM system was designed and constructed in Israel with financial support by the United States in a multi-billion dollar development program (said to be $2 billion USD to date). The Israeli Ministry of Defence runs the Arrow development project under the name "Minhelet Khoma", which binds together Israel's different security industries (such as Israel Military Industries (IMI), Tadiran, Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), etc.) The system was first developed in the late 1980s.

The ABM system is meant to intercept medium- and short-range ballistic missiles and was designed with an eye towards the advanced missile programs of Iraq and Iran. The system is built around the Arrow missiles, the "Yellow Citron" control system and the IAI EL/M-2080 "Green Pine" radar target tracking system. In actual use, the system would be aided by American satellites that can detect and report the flare as missiles are launched. The first operational system was deployed in central Israel, at the Palmachim Airbase on the Mediterranean coast, on March 14, 2000. The latest missile is known as the Arrow II and is still being evaluated for improvement.

Unlike the automated Patriot system, the Arrow system is controlled by an officer who can evaluate the trajectory and decide if one of the advanced Arrow missiles should be launched. There are 6 missile tubes in each launcher and each can be launched to a separate target. Confirmation of this and other abilities was demonstrated in a recent test—the 10th for the Arrow interceptor and the 5th for the complete system—as 4 of 6 missiles were launched at virtual targets during joint U.S.-Israeli exercises. The system is designed to handle up to 14 simultaneous intercepts.

The Arrow 2 interceptor itself has a speed of 2.5 km/s; as opposed to purely kinetic weapons it has its own explosive warhead allowing it to miss by 40–50 meters and still kill.

On July 29, 2004 Israel and the USA carried out joint experiment in the USA, in which the Arrow was launched against a real Scud missile. The experiment was a success, as the Arrow destroyed the Scud with a direct hit.

Following the successful trial the Israeli Minister of Defense, Shaul Mofaz said,

"this is a central plank of Israel's defense ability. The success of the test is further proof of the technological superiority of the Israeli Defense Industries". [link]

The system has a high success rate and Israel plans to deploy the system at several locations to provide complete protection for the state. Procedures are reportedly in place to launch a second Arrow Interceptor should the first miss and to then launch one of the latest Patriot missiles should both fail.

Israel is in negotiations with India to sell the system to them, but the US arms control regimen has blocked the sale of the actual missiles, though the Green Pine radar system has already apparently been sold to India and installed. Discussions have also take place between Israel and Turkey, with which Israel has a strategic defense partnership, but the outcome is unknown. There has also been talk of using the Arrow as part of a multi-tier ABM system by the US.

External links

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.