The Ministry of Defense's Homa Administration successfully carried out a successful flight test Monday of the Arrow 3 (in Hebrew: Hetz 3) anti-missile missile, in conjunction with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
The Defense Ministry said that the test was intended to check the flight systems of the missile, which is meant to provide added high-altitude protection against missiles and to solidify the defensive array protecting Israel from the long range missile threat.
The Arrow 3 will be able to intercept ballistic missiles with longer ranges than the ones that Arrow 2 can bring down, and it will do so at higher altitudes.
The Arrow-3 is needed because the Arrow-2 may not suffice for the neutralization of an incoming nuclear warhead, which needs be conducted before it returns in to the Atmosphere. This holds for the 2nd interception attempt too. There's also the future concern of MIRV, which can be handled effectively only by means of destroying the carrier platform i.e. prior to the separation of the Re-Entry vehicles. The USA would have to buy Arrow-3 systems for deployment in Saudi-Arabia and Germany for deployment in Romania, both facing Iran. The decades-long life-cycle of the Arrow-3 suggests a dependency on Israel for the security of the free-world for the generations to come. Details here:
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