Arrow II missile missed target in test — report

Israel has determined that an Arrow II anti-missile system failed to hit its target during a September 9 test, though it did successfully acquire and track its target, Defense News reported Wednesday.

The report did not cite a source, but quoted experts who said that easily fixed software problems were to blame for the miss by the long-range missile interceptor.

Relying on data received from both the target and the interceptor, officials involved with the joint Israeli-US test took almost a week to determine the results, while Russian sources insisted that the test had failed.

The Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report when approached by The Times of Israel.

The test, conducted by the Defense Ministry and the US Missile Defense Agency, began when a fighter jet released a “Blue Sparrow” target missile at high altitude over the Mediterranean Sea, hundreds of miles off the Israeli coast.

The Blue Sparrow is designed to simulate the flight path of an incoming long-range ballistic missile.

An Arrow-2 interceptor missile was then fired at the target and streaked out toward it. Just what happened after is unclear, as the theoretical point of interception was beyond the range of tracking cameras.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Vd4HKB35o

Technicians warned after the test that it could take some time to interpret the vast volume of information received.

“The missiles broadcast data every second that could fill thousands of pages, like the volumes of an encyclopedia,” a defense source said. “Therefore, it will take many days to check the details and to understand what really happened in the air.”

One option that engineers looked into was that the Blue Sparrow target failed to fly as normal.

On Tuesday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said that the target missile was not intercepted and that it had been found in the sea 300 kilometers from Tel Aviv, Walla reported.

Israel is in the process of developing a five-tiered system of air defense, offering protection against projectiles ranging from mortars to ballistic weapons.

Of the two operational systems, only Iron Dome has been used in combat. Defending against short-to-mid-range rockets, it intercepted roughly 90 percent of its targeted projectiles during Operation Protective Edge, according to figures released by the army.

The other three systems – Iron Beam, a laser based system designed to intercept mortar fire; David’s Sling, an intermediate-range missile interceptor and  the longer-range Arrow 3 – are expected to become operational within the coming two years.

The Arrow 3, still incomplete, is designed to intercept missiles at a higher altitude, in space and above the earth’s atmosphere, minimizing the threat of fallout from weapons of mass destruction and increasing the likelihood of a successful interception of incoming missiles.

Stuart Winer contributed to this report.