Article Posted on : - Feb 23, 2011

The joint US-Israel Arrow Weapon System successfully intercepted a ballistic target missile. The target missile was launched from a Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) off the coast of California. A US MDA photo

JERUSALEM (PTI):  Israel and the US successfully tested Arrow anti-missile system, in which India has also evinced interest, off the coast of California.

The jointly developed Arrow 2 ballistic missile defence system successfully detected, intercepted and destroyed a target simulating an Iranian ballistic missile.

It was the eighteenth test of the Arrow, and the second in which the modified Arrow 2 was tested in its entirety, along with the Green Pine radar manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

The test was conducted jointly by the Israel Air Force, the Israeli Defence Ministry's Homa Missile Defence Agency and the US Missile Defence Agency.

The Arrow is a project developed in cooperation by the IAI and Boeing.

The Arrow interceptor was launched at around 10:30 pm Pacific Standard Time from a US Navy base along the California coast and intercepted a missile fired from a nearby navy vessel, defence sources said.

The Green Pine Radar, an integral part of the Arrow missile defence system, detected the 'enemy missile', and after identifying it related the information to the Arrow battery which launched the missile interceptor.

Arieh Herzog, head of the Homa Missile Defense Agency, told The Jerusalem Post that the Arrow system worked as designed and completely destroyed the target.

"This test is important for Israel as it prepares to counter the ballistic missile threat in the region," Herzog said, adding, "This test proves the success of the system after it underwent new upgrades."

Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak called the test an important milestone in the Israel's development of missile defence systems.