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Operators of the Arrow 3 battery at Palmahim air base on the
Mediterranean coast canceled the launch of its interceptor
missile after it failed to lock on to a target missile fired
over the Mediterranean, the sources said.
"There was a countdown to the launch, and then nothing
happened," one source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "A
decision was made not to waste the interceptor missile."
Arrow is among several elements of an integrated Israeli aerial
shield built up to withstand potential future missile and rocket
attacks by Iran, Syria or their guerrilla allies in Lebanon and
Gaza.
In a statement, Israel's Defence Ministry said that "within the
framework of preparations for a future interception test, a
target missile was launched and carried out its trajectory
successfully".
Asked whether Tuesday's trial had been intended as a full
interception that had failed, a Defence Ministry spokesman had
no immediate comment.
Arrow 3 interceptors are designed to fly above the earth's
atmosphere, where their warheads detach to become kamikaze
satellites, or "kill vehicles", that track and slam into the
targets. Such high-altitude shoot-downs are meant to safely
destroy incoming nuclear, biological or chemical missiles.
Arrow is jointly developed by state-owned Israel Aerospace
Industries (IAI) and U.S. firm Boeing Co. Its earlier version,
Arrow 2, was deployed more than a decade ago and officials put
its success rate in trials at around 90 percent.
But an Arrow 2 interception test on Sept 9 ended inconclusively,
according to the Defence Ministry. The U.S. journal Defense News
later reported that the Arrow 2 interceptor missile missed its
target.
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