- JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel conducted a successful test launch over the
Mediterranean of its Arrow anti-missile missile on Monday, a defence industry
official said. The launch, from a military base on the coast south of Tel
Aviv, was the first time the Arrow's three components -- the missile, the
radar designed to track incoming missiles and the fire control system --
had been tested together. ``All parameters, all functions, all parts of
the test worked perfectly...to the best of my knowledge as of now,'' Menachem
Shmul-Hemi, a senior official at state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries,
the main contractor for the Arrow, told Reuters. ``It was in the air for
97 seconds until it was intentionally exploded,'' he said. The missile-killing
missile did not carry out an actual interception but ``acquired and destroyed''
a simulated target, Israel Radio said. It was the first reported successful
launch of the Arrow, originally part of the U.S. ``Star Wars'' programme,
since a failed test in August 1997 in which the missile malfunctioned and
was destroyed. The $1.6 billion project is jointly financed by the United
States and Israel. Israel hopes the Arrow will be able to counter any ballistic
missile threat from Iran, which test-launched a surface-to-surface missile
in July with sufficient range to reach the Jewish state. The Arrow is supposed
to intercept missiles between 10 km (six miles) and 40 km (25 miles) above
the ground. Israeli officials expect the first operational Arrow missile
battery to be deployed in 1999.
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