Alaska Tests Demonstrate Exo-Atmospheric Hit-to-Kill Capability

The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced on 28 July that it has conducted a successful trial, with the Israel Missile Defence Organisation (IMDO), a successful engagement of a ballistic missile target by an ARROW 3 interceptor missile.

The tests demonstrated ARROW 3’s ability to conduct a high altitude hit-to-kill engagement, with the interceptors successfully destroying exo-atmospheric targets. These tests were conducted at Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska (PSCA) in Kodiak, AK. An American AN-TPY2 radar participated in the test, although this does not form part of the Israeli system’s architecture.

“These successful tests mark a major milestone in the development of the ARROW weapon system,” commented MDA Director, Vice Adm Jon Hill. “This unique success in Alaska provides confidence in future Israeli capabilities to defeat the developing threats in the region. My congratulations to the Israel Missile Defence Organisation, our MDA team, and our industry partners. We are committed to assisting the government of Israel in upgrading its national missile defence capability to defend the state of Israel from emerging threats.”

“Ten challenging years of development have culminated in this moment: the ARROW 3 weapon system completed a test campaign, during which an ARROW 3 interceptor completed full interception of the target. This is an extraordinary operational and technological achievement for the state of Israel, made possible by thousands of employees, engineers and officers from the Ministry of Defence, Israeli defence Industries, Israeli Air Force and our US partners […] In addition, the fact that the tests were conducted in Alaska, tens of thousands of kilometres away from Israel, is another significant achievement that demonstrates the operational capabilities of the ARROW 3 system to successfully face any threat,” added IMDO Director, Moshe Patel.