Israeli Arrow 3 defeats long-range missile attack

 From Steve Trimble at  Aviation Week's Aerospace Digest

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Arrow 3 Makes Combat Debut, Thwarting Long-Range Missile Attack

The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Arrow 3 made its combat debut on Oct. 31 by successfully shooting down a long-range ballistic missile over the Red Sea, Israeli government and industry officials said.

Israeli officials did not confirm the source of the ballistic missile attack, but the location and direction suggest it may have come from Houthi-controlled Yemen.

In September, Houthi forces displayed a long-range missile reminiscent of Iran’s Ghadr and North Korea’s Nodong missiles.

The Arrow 3 “demonstrated today that Israel possesses the most advanced technology for defense against ballistic missiles at various ranges,” said IAI CEO Boaz Levy, who led development of the ballistic missile interceptor.

Israel Defense Forces deployed the Arrow 3 for the first time in 2017 to defend Israel against long-range missile strikes by Iran or its proxies.

The lower-altitude Arrow 2 interceptor had been fielded a decade earlier but shot down a Syrian surface-to-air missile in its combat debut in 2017.

The Israeli government has agreed to export the Arrow 3 system to Germany.

The Israeli Air Force also shot down “aerial objects” in the Red Sea region on Oct. 31, the Israeli Ministry of Defense said.

The intercepts come a week after the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Patrick Carney shot down three more cruise missiles over the Red Sea that were believed to be headed toward Israel from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.