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Comment and Opinion

Ynet: The Arrow 3 is crucial to Israel’s defense – for now, by Ron Ben-Yishai

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The successful testing of the Arrow 3 missile defense system in the Alaskan skies last week is worth a moment or two of Israel’s attention. The Arrow 3 is Israel’s safety net in the event that Iran comes to possess nuclear weapons. It has the ability, now proven beyond any doubt, to destroy a ballistic missile armed with a nuclear warhead before Israel is endangered in any way.

And it works not just against Iranian missiles; any missiles fired at Israel from other locations around the world could be brought down if, as feared, Iran’s atomic aspirations lead to worldwide nuclear proliferation. The successful test in Alaska was a product of cooperation with the American AN-TPY2 radar (also known as X-band radar), which can identify targets from a great distance and even in outer space.

This does not mean that Israel’s Oren radar system is incapable of doing the same thing, but compatibility with an American system permanently stationed in the Negev Desert is a vital safety net should anything go wrong with the Israeli system. Now Israel must make sure it has the launcher and missile stockpiles needed to counter an attack that may include large barrages of missiles carrying nuclear or hydrogen warheads fired from Iran at Israel.

Read the full article at Ynet.