Israeli Missile Defense Chief: 1st Test of Arrow 3 Over Alaska Coming Soon

March 27, 2019

Israel’s missile defense chief says his nation will soon use U.S. airspace for the first time to conduct a flight test of a system designed to protect the Jewish state from a long-range Iranian missile strike.

Moshe Patel, director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization, spoke about the planned test of the Arrow 3 system at the annual AIPAC conference of American pro-Israel activists in Washington on Sunday.

“Arrow 3 is too big for the state of Israel,” Patel told an audience at a panel discussion. “It is supposed to be good against nuclear threats that are coming from Iran. (But) we have limitations in our arena to conduct flight tests because of safety.”

Israel developed Arrow 3, its most advanced system for intercepting long-range missiles, with U.S. aircraft maker Boeing and first deployed it in 2017. Arrow-3 interceptors are designed to hit long-range missiles in space at an altitude that would safely destroy any nuclear warheads.

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