Israel's Arrow 3 missile shield reportedly fails interception test
Israel's upgraded Arrow ballistic missile shield failed its first live interception test on Tuesday, security sources said, a fresh setback for the US-supported system billed as a bulwark against Iran.
Operators of the Arrow 3 battery at Palmahim air base on the Mediterranean coast cancelled 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," said one source. "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 Defense 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 Defense Ministry spokesman had no immediate comment.
