Israel uses Arrow missile defense system for the first time in the new war

31 October, 2023 The Arrow-3 anti-aircraft missile ?????? during deployment. Photo credits: IAI The Israeli Defense Forces used the Arrow missile defense system for the first time since the beginning of the war.

The press service of the Israeli Air Force reported on this on its social media pages. It is reported that the Arrow system intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired from the Red Sea. The Air Force's systems tracked the missile's flight path and intercepted it at "the most appropriate operational time and place."

In addition, fighter jets were deployed to the same area to intercept the detected enemy targets. All threats were intercepted outside of Israel, and no intrusions into Israeli airspace were detected.

Illustrative photo of Arrow system test launches. Photo from open sources

Arrow

Arrow or Hetz is a family of missiles designed to intercept ballistic targets.

It is jointly developed by the Israeli and US industries. The Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing are developing and modernizing the family of missiles. The system consists of Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 hypersonic anti-ballistic missiles, Elta EL/M-2080 Green Pine, and Golden Citron early warning radars.

The Arrow is a very expensive "treat" for both the United States and Israel. After the start of development, the forecast for total development and production costs was approximately £1.6 billion.

Illustrative photo of the test launch of the Arr?w system. Photo from open sources

The price of one Arrow missile was estimated at £3 million.

According to available information, between 1989 and 2007, about £2.4 billion was invested in the Arrow program, 50-80 percent of which was funded by the United States. It is also reported that Israel contributes approximately £65 million to the program annually. The system made its first interception on March 17, 2017, when it intercepted a S-200 missile.

Militarnyi recently reported that Israel Aerospace Industries will help Germany integrate the Arr?w 3 missile defense system for use in Europe's unified air defense system.