TEL AVIV \u2014 A glitch that prevented the Israeli Arrow-2 missile defense system from intercepting its intended target was corrected, Defense Ministry officials said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a briefing to reporters here, an official at the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) acknowledged for the first time that a test last September successfully acquired, but narrowly missed, its target. The near-miss was first reported by Defense News shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Intercepting such a threat requires a significant broadening of the limits of the system … the interceptor passed very close to the target, but did not directly strike it,” The Jerusalem Post reported, quoting MoD officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exact reason behind the failure was not provided, however, officials initially attributed the glitch to easily correctable software issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bugs like these are inherent to developing such systems and do not reflect the long-term viability of Arrow-2, Uzi Rubin, a former director of IMDO and an international consultant on emerging threats, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Things like this happen. Tests are not an insurance policy and if I knew a test was going to succeed, I wouldn’t do it at all. It would be a waste of time and money. You must factor everything in; in some cases you’re going to fail and if it points out a flaw then that’s a success, not a failure,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also clarified that the failure does not affect the developmental upper-tier Arrow-3 or Israel’s existing stockpile of Arrow-2 missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last December, the first intercept test for the Arrow-3 anti-ballistic missile developed by Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing was aborted due to safety concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You don’t fire if you think you’re going to endanger anyone,” Rubin said, explaining that the intercept would have been tested close to a densely populated area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“What failed was not a test, what failed was an attempt to do the test,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IMDO also spotlighted the Iron Dome anti-rocket system, which proved successful during Operation Protective Edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the conflict, Iron Dome \u2014 also jointly funded by the US \u2014 intercepted 740 Gazan rockets for a 90 percent success rate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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