U.S. Helps Israel Build Cutting-Edge Defense System to Target Missiles in Space

Arrow-4 missile defense system (Photo credit: Israel Defense Ministry/Public Collar)

U.S. and Israeli officials said Feb. 18 that the two countries are working together to develop a new breakthrough missile defense system that can target and eliminate missile threats from the atmosphere and space. The “Arrow-4” system developed by the two countries represents the next generation of “endo-atmospheric interceptor weapons” that will be deployed over Time to replace the existing Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 systems, officials said.

“The Arrow anti-missile system was developed jointly by Israel and the United States, and the Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 have been deployed in Israel to intercept intercontinental missiles outside the atmosphere, particularly missiles carrying nuclear and chemical warheads. This system is part of Israel’s multi-layered anti-missile system, which, along with the David Slingshot and Iron Dome systems, defends against long-, medium- and short-range missile threats, respectively. “The Arrow-4 project is a direct partnership between Israel’s Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

While officials did not say which specific threat from which country motivated the development of the new missile defense system, Arrow-4 is believed to have been developed with an eye toward Iran, with which Israel has long been in a hostile relationship.

U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director – Hill said, “‘Arrow-4’ is a cooperative project between the United States and Israel, which suggests that the United States is assisting Israel in upgrading its national missile defense capabilities to defend Israel from new threats of war.”

“Over the past 30 years, we have developed one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world,” said Patel, director of Israel’s Missile Defense Agency, “and the capabilities of these defenses are constantly being improved to address emerging threats, and the ‘Arrow-4 ‘ new system will have excellent flight and interception capabilities and continue to ensure Israel’s security.”