Israel, US successfully test Arrow missile

[February 22, 2011]  JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel and the U.S. carried out a successful test of the Arrow anti-missile system off the coast of California, Israel's Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Israel's Defense Ministry said the Arrow detected, intercepted and destroyed a target missile launched from an offshore platform inside a U.S. Navy firing range in a test carried out late Monday.

Tuesday's statement said the trial, the latest in a series of successful tests of the system, "provides confidence in operational Israeli capabilities to defeat the developing ballistic missile threat."

Jointly developed by Israel and the U.S., the system is primarily aimed at defending Israel from the threat of an Iranian missile strike. The Arrow detects an incoming missile and destroys it with a second missile.

Israel has identified Iran as its biggest threat, citing the country's nuclear program and its development of ballistic missiles. Those fears have been compounded by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and the regime's support for militant groups fighting Israel.

Iran's Shahab-3 missiles have a range of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers), putting Israel well within striking distance.

Iran claims its nuclear work is for energy production.

Tensions between the two countries were raised further Tuesday by the passage of two Iranian warships through the Suez Canal toward the Mediterranean Sea, marking the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that Tehran has sent military ships through the strategic waterway.

The ships, a frigate and a supply vessel, are en route to a port in Syria, Israel's hostile northern neighbor and an Iranian ally.

Israel has made clear it views the passage as a provocation and an attempt by Iran to exploit the recent instability in Egypt to expand its influence.

[Associated Press; By MATTI FRIEDMAN]

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