Israel must invest in missile system, says Arrow inventor

Dov Raviv criticizes Israel's defense approach, warns that without anti-missile system country will be in danger
Ahiya Raved

"If the defense establishment does not reconsider its approach, we will become an endangered country," said the developer of the Arrow Anti Tactical Ballistic Missile system said Thursday.

Dov Raviv criticized Israel's defense policy and said that the Arrow was Israel's assurance and should, therefore, be taken more seriously. "We can not develop a frugal defense system. We must invest all the available resources in it," he asserted.

Missile Test

Israel test fires Arrow missile / Hanan Greenberg

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Earlier this week, the Pentagon allocated funding for the next generation of the Arrow. The new missile will have increased capabilities to intercept ballistic missiles at a much earlier stage, making it much more affective.

Boaz Levi, former director of the Arrow program, said at the Israel Annual Conference on Aerospace Sciences, that today the world was under two major threats: international terrorism and ballistic missiles.

Existential threat

He said, in regard to Iran, that the long-range missiles were an existential threat to Israel. He added that the short range missiles and rockets were dangerous, but not to the same extent.

Member of Knesset Yuval Steinitz, former head of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that Israel should stop focusing only on anti-missile systems, and should also develop an attack system that includes surface-to-surface missiles, as its neighbors possess.

A senior manager at RAFAEL Armament Development Authority, revealed that the IDF intended to purchase an active defense system for armored vehicles that could destroy anti-tank warfare before it hit the tanks, as well as a defense systems against mid-range missiles and rockets.