Missile defense system’s first deployment a success
The Arrow 3 missile defense system, designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles, was deployed successfully against a missile salvo for the first time over the weekend to repel the Iranian attack on Israel, the system’s maker said Wednesday.
Speaking to The Associated Press, Boaz Levy, chief executive of state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, the primary builder of the Arrow system, said that the system has been “operational for decades,” but was used Saturday “for the very first time against ballistic missiles in a salvo scenario,” intercepting highflying munitions inside and outside the atmosphere.
Of about 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran into Israeli airspace Saturday night, the military says that 99 percent were intercepted by Israel’s multilayered air defense system, wounding only one person — a young girl.
“There is no hermetic seal. no system can give you an hermetic seal. But we did succeed to have 99 percent of success,” Levy said.
The Arrow’s success Saturday night in defending Israel is likely to please Germany, which recently signed a contract with Israel and the United States to procure Arrow 3. When operational, the system could protect much of Europe from long-range ballistic missiles.