US commends Israel on Arrow test

VIDEO - The United States congratulated Israel for the successful test-firing of the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system, Israel Aerospace Industries researchers told Ynet. Yossi Weiss, manager of the Space Division at Israel Aerospace Industries MBT Space Division, said that further analysis of the test indicated it was a phenomenal success. “According to all visible signs, it appears to be a total success and met all the test’s conditions,” Weiss said. On Sunday night IAI employees watched live footage of the experiment, and when the Arrow hit its target – a Black Sparrow missile dropped from an IAF jet – they broke out in cheers and applause. After a brief celebration of their success, they began to analyze the technical data of the test results. The goal of the experiment was to examine the missile under extreme conditions which imitated an actual attack scenario, Weiss said. “This is why it was irregular – no such test had been done until now. The experiment was conducted at night, on two Arrow systems. For the first time a joint American-Israeli manufactured interception system was tested. “After the successful test, we received warm congratulations and commendations from the American defense agency, which was very impressed and praised us for our great accomplishment,” Weiss said. “The moment of launch, when the button was pressed, was the comprehensive result of hundreds of hours of work,” he said. Threats from the East Weiss noted that Sunday’s experiment examined the system’s responsiveness to a variety of threats aimed at Israel from the east. “The profile of the threats is known. Future experiments will address additional threats. The Arrow is the basic response, but there are additional threats to account, coming from (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad, and we won’t go into detail. The defense establishment and the defense industries are doing all they can to prepare for the various threats coming from our enemies,” Weiss said. Weiss said the researchers were continuing to improve and upgrade the missile defense system. “The next test, which will be conducted in a few months, will be a significant step up in the Arrow system’s performance,” he noted. In an unprecedented move, the defense establishment disclosed to the public a great deal of information on the test. Weiss explained: “We can’t ignore the environment we live in and what we hear about threats towards Israel. We can’t ignore the fact that the Arrow system fulfills its purpose. Civilians want to know how the system performs. Today they can know that they can sleep at night and be sure the defense establishment can protect them.”

US commends Israel on Arrow test

(VIDEO) After technical analysis of the results, defense establishment declares Arrow missile test a phenomenal success. Manager at Israel Aerospace Industries says ‘civilians can sleep at night and be sure defense establishment will protect them’