U.S., Israel to test three missile defense systems in Pacific this summer
Friday, July 17, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
WASHINGTON — The United States plans to stage a joint missile defense exercise with Israel in the Pacific Ocean.
Officials said the exercise of the enhanced Arrow-2 missile defense system would take place over the next month in the Pacific. They said Arrow-2 would be operated in conjunction with three U.S. missile defense systems — PAC-3, Aegis and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system.
"They are having a flight test soon this summer," U.S. Missile Defense Agency director Patrick O'Reilly said.
In a briefing on July 14, O'Reilly said the missile defense exercise would highlight long-range missile threats. He said the exercise would test Arrow's interoperability with a range of U.S. missile defense systems.
"The upcoming test also provides us the opportunity to have the Patriot system, the THAAD system and the Aegis system all interacting with the Arrow system so that we're demonstrating full interoperability as we execute this test," O'Reilly said.
In 2007, Israel conducted an Arrow-2 exercise in the Pacific Ocean. Most of the interception tests, including the last Arrow-2 launch in April 2009, have taken place in the Mediterranean Sea.
"They're limited to the range of the missile they can test in the eastern Mediterranean," O'Reilly said. "There's a safety issue. That's the primary purpose of them coming to the United States to use our test range."
O'Reilly said the United States was seeking to develop a layered missile defense umbrella, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. MDA has been allocated a $7.8 billion budget, a significant decrease from that under the Bush administration.
"If we know where the threats are likely to come from and we know what we are trying to protect, you can put your interceptors in the right place at the right time so that you can intercept much earlier," O'Reilly said.