In preparing the material, we used: a statement by the Israel Defense Forces, publications of The Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post, information from the website of Israel Aerospace Industries, open data from Wikipedia and a commentary by aviation and missile expert Valery Romanenko for RBC-Ukraine.
Combat use against ballistics
The official account of the Israel Defense Forces on Twitter announced the successful interception of a ballistic target the day before.
“The IDF air defense system intercepted an air threat that was identified in the Red Sea area, south of the city of Eilat. There was no threat to the civilian population, and no infiltration into Israeli territory was detected,” the military said, later clarifying that the missile was shot down “in the most suitable place.”
The statement was made after residents of Eilat reported a loud explosion, and photos of a white trail in the sky from an interceptor missile appeared online. At the same time, no warning sirens sounded.
Photo: trace from a launched Arrow 3 interceptor missile (t.me/Yediotnews)
According to local media, this was the first operational use of the Arrow 3 long-range cosplex. The surface-to-surface ballistic missile was launched from the Red Sea area, the target could be the southern Israeli city of Eilat.
Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for the incident. The group’s spokesman, Yahya Sariya, attributed the strike to “a sense of religious and moral responsibility for the population of the Gaza Strip,” in which Israel is conducting the ground phase of the war against Hamas terrorists. And he threatened further attacks with drones and missiles.
Note that the Houthi rebels have controlled the capital Sanaa and large areas of Yemen since 2014. Their regime, like the Hamas terrorists, is supported by Iran, which, according to various sources, has up to 3,000 ballistic missiles of varying ranges. Today, Houthi resources published a video of the launch of ballistics against Israel.
According to Boaz Levy, CEO of the developer Israel Aerospace Industries, the Arrow 3 system has proven the presence of the most advanced technology for protection against ballistic missiles. And Israel showed Iran and other countries in the region that it has truly reliable missile defense.
Development and global interest
Arrow 3 or “Hetz-3” (“Arrow”) is an anti-missile system as part of the Israeli missile defense system, created in cooperation with the US Missile Defense Agency and with the participation of American companies.
Work on the Arrow project began in 1986. In 1988, Israel Aircraft Industries received an order to create a prototype of the Arrow 1 missile defense system, which was tested by 1994. At the next stage, a missile defense system was developed capable of intercepting ballistics launched from a distance of up to 3000 km and flying at speeds of up to 4.5 km per second.
The complex entered service with the Israel Defense Forces with already serial Arrow 2 missiles capable of intercepting targets in the stratosphere. The first battery was deployed in 2002 south of Tel Aviv, the second in the north of the country in the Hadera region. It is believed that the deployed batteries provide cover for up to 85% of Israel’s territory. The first tests of the Arrow 3 system began in 2011, and later it became known about joint American-Israeli work on this project.
“Israel alone would not have been able to pull off Arrow 3, and the United States has so far invested more than $4 billion in production. The fact is that the Americans are looking for someone with whom to jointly develop expensive systems. Just like the countries of Europe, which at one time realized that because at exorbitant prices, it is better to develop combat aircraft together. This is how Airbus, Eurofighter and others appeared,” expert Valery Romanenko told RBC-Ukraine.
Photo: Arrow 3 tests in Alaska (iai.co.il)
In 2015, the Israeli Ministry of Defense announced the successful testing of a complex that hit a test target over the Mediterranean Sea. It is also known about a series of secret joint tests with the United States in Alaska. The Arrow 3 rocket entered service in 2018.
According to the expert, in general, the Strela can be called an Israeli superweapon. No wonder there is already a line of customers behind him. In particular, Germany is ready to buy it; in the summer the United States approved a deal for $3.5 billion and it was planned that the German side would begin deployment in 2025. It is unclear how these dates will be affected by Israel’s current war against Hamas.
In addition, Poland, Romania and the Scandinavian countries, which became more active with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are testing the waters. The Israeli complex is considered as a safety net against ballistic Iskanders and Kinzhals.
“If you have Arrow 3, you cover the territory within a radius of 100 km around its positions. The same Patriot is only 20-25 km. It is better to take the first one, it is more expensive, but more modern and requires fewer people to maintain it. Compared to Patriot, whose battery requires a staff of 80-90 people,” Romanenko added.
Features and Specifications
The Arrow-3 missile defense system is positioned as a complex for the destruction of ballistic missiles, including intercontinental ones, in extra-atmospheric space, that is, actually in space. The upper limit of interception is 100 km or more. The height of the strike primarily distinguishes it from Patriot systems, which reach a maximum of 30 kilometers from the ground.
“According to the classification of the International Aviation Federation (FAI), an altitude of up to 100 km is considered atmospheric, everything higher is space. In order not to shoot down, for example, missiles with a nuclear charge directly above, Israel decided to do this in space so that radioactive fallout could not fall on its territory,” explains Romanenko.
Accordingly, among Western systems, it can compete with the American THAAD, which reaches targets at an altitude of 150-200 km. Today, the United States has 7 such batteries on its balance sheet; the UAE, Japan and South Korea received several more at different times. In January 2022, THAAD intercepted a ballistic missile that the Yemeni Houthis were trying to attack an oil facility in the Emirates.
Ballistics work is the main and, one might say, exclusive task of Arrow-3. Earlier, representatives of the Israeli Space Agency also said that it could serve as an anti-satellite weapon. But only if we are talking about satellites in low orbit, the expert clarifies.
The complex consists of a hypersonic interceptor missile, launchers, an early warning radar station, a control point and a control center. All system components are mobile and can be moved to specially prepared places.
Complex characteristics:
maximum height of target engagement – 100 km (according to other sources, up to 150 km) range – 1250 km (according to other sources, up to 2400 km and even up to 5500 km) target detection range – from 900 km (with EL/M-2080 radar Block B Super Green) up to 1900 km (with AN/TPY-2 radar)
The system is capable of detecting and tracking up to 12 targets, as well as directing up to two interceptor missiles at one of them. One battery can simultaneously intercept a salvo of five ballistic missiles within 30 seconds. Moreover, the launch can be carried out even before it becomes known where the enemy missile is flying.
The manufacturer cites the following advantages: compactness, large coverage area, high efficiency against all types of tactical ballistics, excellent maneuverability and short reaction time. And also autonomy. The last factor, among others, is quite attractive, since THAAD, in addition to being more expensive, is also tied to the American satellite system.
Photo: Arrow-3 rocket launch (iai.co.il)
The Arrow-3 interceptor missile is two-stage, has a booster and propulsion engine, as well as a special strike module.
“As for the warhead, there are two options. Some sources write that it is classical, that is, it explodes and hits the target with debris; others talk about the kinetic method, that is, destruction as a result of a direct hit. Moreover, above 100 km, both options are effective, while at an altitude of 20 km there is no particular point in hitting with debris, because the ballistic missile is already flying vertically. And at 100 km there is a chance of being shot down on an upward trajectory before it reaches its maximum altitude,” said Valery Romanenko.
The manufacturer claims 99% efficiency, but it’s too early to talk about this objectively. Until yesterday, there were essentially only tests, although in fact the Arrow-3 rocket underwent its baptism of fire back in 2017. Then it shot down a Syrian S-300 missile in Israeli airspace. According to Uzi Rubin, a researcher at the Jerusalem Security Institute, the use was rather non-standard and did not give an idea of how successful the work against ballistics would be. The Yemeni missile in this regard was a much more difficult target and corresponded to the direct purpose of the Strela.
The missile uses hit-to-kill technology. It is launched vertically, after which it changes direction towards the calculated interception point. And only after the target and course are identified, the interceptor destroys it with a direct hit.
Rocket characteristics:
engine – two-stage interception speed – hypersonic, up to 2.5 km/s interception altitude – over 100 km interception range – 2,400 km cost – 2-3 million dollars
Note that the incident with the Yemeni missile over the Red Sea shows to some extent that the Arrow-3 interceptor is indeed capable of shooting down ballistic missiles with a range of 400 to 2000 km, such as the Iranian Shahab-3 and Sajil, including those carrying weapons mass destruction.
***
It is obvious that, taking into account all the advantages, the Arrow-3 system would at least not interfere with the Ukrainian air defense forces in the fight against Russian Kinzhals and Iskanders. But obtaining such complexes is impossible for two reasons. Firstly, only a few of them were produced, and secondly, they are much more expensive than Patriot and SAMP-T.
“Neither Ukraine nor our allies have that kind of money. They cannot give us enough Patriots, we have two batteries for the whole of Ukraine, and this is just one covered city. If we talk about Arrow-3, then Israel has only one battery, and talk about deployment in Germany is still about the future. Of course, if they show high efficiency, they will go into production faster. For now, this is a one-off product,” summed up expert Valery Romanenko.
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2023-11-01 16:25:01