World Tribune.com: Major missile defense test underway in Israel

Major missile defense test underway in Israel

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Monday, January 13, 2003

TEL AVIV Ñ Israel and the United States have launched a major missile defense exercise.

The exercise, termed Jennifer Cobra, began last week in the Negev desert. U.S. Army and Israel Air Force units are testing the interoperability and effectiveness of the U.S. PAC-2 Gem+ low-tier and the Arrow-2 medium-tier systems.

An Israeli military spokesman said Israel and the United States began planning for the exercise about two years ago, Middle East Newsline reported. The spokesman said details of the exercise are classified.

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About 1,000 U.S. Army personnel and the PAC-2 systems have arrived from U.S. European Command for the exercise. The exercise will last for three weeks.

Defense sources said the scenarios for the exercise include the firing of a salvo of missiles to demonstrate U.S. and Israeli interception capabilities. At one point, Israel had urged that only one missile at a time be fired. But officials said Israel agreed to a U.S. request for an interception attempt of a salvo of missiles.

Officials said the exercise intends to integrate German and U.S. PAC-2 systems. Germany is expected to send several PAC-2 batteries later this week.

A second stage of the exercise will be the arrival of a U.S. Navy Aegis-class cruiser in the eastern Mediterranean off the Israeli coast later this month. The exact date of the arrival was not disclosed.

The U.S. Navy ship will contain the SM-3 interceptor. The interceptor was successfully tested late last year.

Last week, Israel succeeded in its first test of the Arrow-2's ability to respond to a salvo of enemy missiles. Four Arrow-2 interceptors, only one of which contained a warhead, were launched in a simulated attack by four Iraqi medium-range missiles.

Israel and the United States are also expected to complete preparations for the joint production of Arrow-2 interceptors. A delegation from the Boeing Co. will discuss both marketing and production issues with the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries. This will include the prospect of supplying the Arrow-2 to other countries.

Under the agreement, Boeing will manufacture the interceptor. IAI will produce other assets of the missile defense system, such as the Green Pine radar.

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