Israel’s Arrow-3 Anti-ballistic Missile Scheduled For Tests Soon

Israel and the US Missile Defence Agency (MDA) will reportedly test the Arrow-3 anti-ballistic missile system for the first time in coming months.

The test will take place at Alaska’s Kodiak test site and is scheduled to be accomplished within few months, Israel’s Channel 2 broadcaster reported Sunday.

The system is set to be tested against a target similar in behaviour to the advanced ballistic missiles, which are currently being developed, and have already been achieved, by Iran.

Jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing, the Arrow-3 is an exoatmospheric anti-ballistic missile intended to destroy targets outside the earth’s atmosphere, which enables the system to neutralise any threat, including a missile carrying a nuclear warhead, without creating any damage on the ground below. Sometimes, the system is used to intercept satellites.

Official sources at the centre of the spaceport on Kodiak Island announced that the Arrow-3 test will cost an estimated $80 million, with a portion being funded by the US.

The interceptor will be launched from a testing site in the Kodiak Islands. "This is one of the better places to conduct a test and we plan to do that next year," said Vice Admiral James Syring, a senior US Navy official.

According to the Kodiak Daily Mirror, a town hall meeting is set to be held this Wednesday to answer questions about the missile’s 2018 testing plan.