The Chief Executive Officer of the Israeli Aerospace Industry (IAI) has said that his company has received a lot of interest from foreign governments which wish to purchase the Arrow-3 Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system after Iran’s April 13 attack on Israel using weapons such as ballistic & cruise missiles, drones. The Arrow missile system is said to have carried out most of the successful interceptions of the over 100 ballistic missiles launched by Iran.
The Arrow-3 BMD system forms the upper layer of Israel’s multi-layered air defence system. David’s Sling is designed to take down enemy aircraft, drones, cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles, and forms the mid-tier of the system. Meanwhile, the Iron Dome system, the busiest of the lot, protects Israel from rockets, artillery shells and mortar bombs forming the low level of the three-tiered air defence system. The David’s Sling air defence system has evolved from the SPYDER missile and the DERBY missile, both these weapons are in service with the Indian armed forces. The Green Pine RADAR used to guide the Arrow family of missiles is also in service with India.
Germany had signed a whopping $3.5 billion dollar deal to procure the Arrow-3 BMD system in 2023, in an effort to improve its defences against Russian missiles after the invasion of Ukraine. The Arrow-3 is garnering international support as it can take out ballistic missiles before they enter Earth’s atmosphere.
The IAI is already working on the Arrow-4 interceptor missile, which will replace the Arrow-2 system in Israeli service. The new missile will tackle next-generation threats such as hypersonic cruise missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles. A theoretical hypersonic missile fired by Iran could reach Israel in as little as four minutes.
India currently uses the Russian S-400 missile as a shield against ballistic missiles.
Dhruv Yadav
