TEL AVIV Ñ Syria has launched an indigenous version of a Scud-class missile.

Israeli sources said the Syrian military launched the Scud B on Sunday. The sources said the missile was fired near Aleppo in northern Syria, flew 300 kilometers south and landed in the eastern desert.

In September, Syria launched the Scud D missile, said to have a range of 700 kilometers. Syria has also developed, with North Korean help, the Scud C, with a range of 500 kilometers.

The sources said the latest Syrian launch was detected by the Israeli Green Pine radar, which provides early-warning for the Arrow missile defense system. The Green Pine also detected the Scud D launch as well as that of Iran's Shihab-3 intermediate-range missile.

Israeli military sources said the radar detected the Scud missile from the moment of launch. They said the launch prompted the operation of the entire Arrow system. The sources said that the immediate detection nearly doubles the amount of early-warning obtained by Israel from a missile attack from Syria. This means that Israel could obtain six minutes of warning. The prime contractor of the Arrow is Israel Aircraft Industries. The EL/M-2080 Green Pine is produced by IAI subsidiary Elta Electronic Systems.

The sources said the Scud missile was fired after Israeli warplanes attacked a Syrian radar station in Lebanon. They said the Scud B launch was part of a biannual Syrian military exercise.

Syrian sources denied the Scud B missile launch. Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas denied to reporters that Damascus has deployed ballistic missiles.

After Israel's attack on the Syrian radar, the regime of President Bashar Assad said Damascus would respond at a time and place of its choice.

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