Israel tests Arrow 2, successfully!

The Arrow 2 ballistic missile defense system was successfully tested in southern Israel Tuesday morning, when it destroyed a missile simulating an Iranian Shihab 3.

It was the eighteenth test of the Arrow, and the first in which the recently modified Arrow 2 was tested in its entirety, along with a new radar system manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

The test was conducted jointly by the IAF and the US Missile Defense Agency. The Arrow is a project developed in cooperation by the IAI and Boeing.

The defensive missile was launched around 11 a.m. from the army's Palmahim base near Ashdod, and intercepted a Blue Sparrow missile fired by a fighter jet and impersonating a Shihab 3.

In July of 2004, a full Arrow battery was transported to the Point Mugu naval range in California for the test (rather than simulated ballistic missile, a Scud-B short-range ballistic missile was used). The Scud-B was successfully intercepted and destroyed at an altitude of 40,000m. This test was part of the ongoing Arrow System Improvement Program (ASIP) being conducted jointly by Israel and the US.

In the second test at Point Mugu, in August 2004, against a target simulating a separating ballistic missile, the radar successfully acquired the target but the intercept failed in the final stage, leading to a suspension of testing.

Testing was resumed in December 2005, when an Arrow 2 block 3 missile successfully intercepted a target at an unspecified but reported record low altitude. In February 2007, the system successfully intercepted and destroyed a Rafael Black Sparrow target missile, simulating a ballistic missile, at high altitude. Both Arrow batteries took part in the test.

The two-stage missile is equipped with solid propellant booster and sustainer rocket motors. The missile uses an initial burn to carry out a vertical hot launch from the container and a secondary burn to sustain the missile's trajectory towards the target at a maximum speed of Mach 9, or 2.5km/s.

Thrust vector control is used in the boost and sustainer phases of flight. At the ignition of the second stage sustainer motor, the first stage assembly separates. The first stage booster is manufactured by Israel Military Industries. Rafael manufactures the sustainer motor.


Resources:
Israeli Test Arrow 2 - Article
Arrow 2 stats - Article