[The United States adds another space anti-missile "weapon"? Somewhat similar to Sade.
A few days ago, the Israeli Ministry of Defense announced that the country had once again conducted a flight test of the Arrow-3 anti-ballistic missile interceptor, successfully destroying a target at a height in space.
According to US military media reports, Israel's Arrow anti-missile system has cooperated with the United States since the second generation, of which Boeing is the main player, so the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) also attaches great importance to this test launch.
Jon Hill, head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, said the purpose of the test was to "understand the performance limits of each unit of the Arrow Anti-Missile System, which performed quite well in the test." ”
The Israeli Arrow anti-missile system is the world's first experimental combat deployment, a land-based high-level anti-tactical ballistic missile special weapon system. This weapon system is mainly used to intercept short- and medium-range tactical ballistic missiles.
The Arrow-3 anti-missile interception system was officially deployed in January 2017 and can be regarded as an Israeli version of the THAAD system in terms of performance, mainly used to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles. Because the Israeli side has always been very worried that there are neighboring countries or armed groups that use ballistic missiles to threaten.
For example, during the Gulf War in 1991, Iraq frequently fired Scud missile attacks at Israel, when Israel's Arrow 1 anti-aircraft and anti-missile system had not yet been developed and the test firing was not successful. Therefore, the defense of Israeli airspace was the American "Patriot-2" anti-aircraft missile. This has also made the Israeli side more determined to develop an anti-ballistic missile interceptor system.
From a technical point of view, the Arrow Type 3 anti-missile interception system has also been upgraded in technology. The difference between the previous Arrow-2 missile and the Us THAAD, Standard-3 and other interceptor missiles is that they still use explosive warheads instead of kinetic energy interceptors.
The Arrow Type 3 system, which was tested this time, is said to have finally used a kinetic energy interceptor. In addition, compared to the previous generation, the Arrow Type 3 system, with its smaller form factor, can be deployed on board. Moreover, the pneumatic rudder surface has been eliminated, the interception height and range have been increased, and the interception ability outside the atmosphere has been strengthened.
At present, Israel has designed a multi-layered anti-missile network, including the "Iron Dome" to intercept short-range rockets and low-altitude targets, the "David Catapult" system responsible for medium- and long-range defense, and the Arrow Type 3 responsible for long-range anti-missile.
Israeli sources said they are also jointly developing a new generation of "Arrow 4" anti-missile systems with the United States.
