Times of Israel
The Defense Ministry completed a series of successful tests of an improved version of the anti-rocket Iron Dome missile system, the ministry said on Wednesday.
It was the first trial of new Tamir interceptor missiles, which were developed together with the United States’ Missile Defense Agency.
Over the past few days, the Defense Ministry’s weapons development administration and the American agency put the system through its paces with a series of complex tests, along with the main contractor for the project, Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, a statement said. The system reportedly passed with flying colors.
The new Tamir interceptor missiles, which included components made in the United States, were launched to engage and destroy incoming rockets. The American portions of the missiles were manufactured by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, under Israeli supervision.
The manufacturing cooperation is a first for the Israeli program, which is jointly funded with the US, and reflects an agreement signed with the US in 2014. That year the rocket system, under development in Israel for over a decade, proved its mettle in a near-perfect record of knocking out of the sky rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at Israeli population centers…
