אינדקס
Israel and Iran's Military Arms Race
THE RUNDOWN | Israel and Iran appear to be heading for a more tense situation in Syria, and both sides continue developing their military technology for such purposes. Does either side have an edge and how does Israel prevent the Iranians from extending the reach of their weapons technology? Former Israel Missile Defense Organization Director Uzi Rubin analyzes.
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The Israeli and US defense ministries launched a test for the new Arrow 3 interception missile on Tuesday morning, after an exchange of fire with Iranian forces in Syria put the region on high alert over the weekend.
A dummy target was launched just before 7:00 a.m. in central Israel, with its scope engineered to imitate a long-range ballistic missile, the kind of weapons that it is built to bring down.
'Arrow Weapon System radars detected it and transferred the data to the battle management control, which then established a defense plan,' a statement released by the Ministry of Defense read.
'At the right moment, the Arrow-3 interceptor was launched towards the target and successfully completed its mission,' it added.
The test was completed in partnership with other branches, and the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
The Arrow 3 is the third iteration of a rocket in a joint project with the US, first launched in 1988 as part of the then Star Wars program under late US president Ronald Reagan.
Arrow is the jewel in Israel's multi-layered defense system, one of the most powerful weapons of its kind in the world. Able to intercept missiles at greater ranges, heights and travelling at faster speeds, it has significantly upgraded the Jewish state’s aerial defense mechanisms in the face of emerging threats.
It was built with Iran in mind, and all eyes were turned towards Tehran when Israel announced the successful test on Tuesday.
Israel attacked a reported 38 targets inside Syria in the night of Sunday, taking the unprecedented step to publicize the attack as it was happening.
The attack, which the Israeli military said was an answer to an earlier surface-to-surface missile launched into Israeli territory by Iranian forces in Syria, destroyed at least two Iranian bases, one weapons depot, and several Syrian air defense batteries.
It killed 11, according the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, including Iranian troops, Hezbollah operatives and at least two Syrian soldiers. This makes it the deadliest strikes by Israel in Syria since a May 2018 offensive that killed 23.
The May attack followed the same protocol, with Israeli jets responding heavily to incoming Iranian fire from Syria.
The Arrow test definitely constitutes a show of force as Israel amps up its rhetoric against Iranian encroachment in war-torn Syria, amid a surprise US pullout.
