On March 4, U.S. and Israeli forces began joint exercises for the 12-day Juniper Cobra 2018 wargame, designed to improve coordination between the two militaries. The exercise consists of responding to threat scenarios using computer-assisted simulations that range from rocket threats to crisis resupply, foreign disaster response and foreign humanitarian assistance. Integrated ballistic missile defense...
On February 19, Israel conducted a successful flight test of the Arrow-3 missile defense system. “A short while ago, the Defense Ministry and American MDA carried out a planned flight test of its Arrow weapons system, with an Arrow 3 interceptor,” the Defense Ministry tweeted. “The Arrow 3 interceptor was launched and carried out its...
On February 10, Israel clashed with Iranian and Syrian military forces in a series of cross-border strikes. The confrontations began when Israel shot down an Iranian drone that had reportedly penetrated its airspace from Syria. The Israeli military then attacked the command-and-control center from which Iran had launched the drone, at the so-called T4 air...
In early January, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman instructed the Israel Defense Forces to establish a new force of ground-to-ground missiles. This unit will be part of the army’s ground forces and initially equipped with missiles ranging up to 150 km. Later, missiles with a range of 300 kilometers will be added. Israel’s mid-range missile...
A problem in transferring data from ground systems caused the second cancellation of an Arrow-3 test in the last two months, according to Moshe Patel, director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization. Test engineers declared this a “no test,” and not a failed test, because the interceptor missile was never launched. The previous test last...
On Tuesday, Iron Dome batteries intercepted rockets fired from the Gaza Strip toward Ashkelon. While no groups claimed responsibility for the rocket launch, Israeli forces attacked Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response. Tension between Hamas and Israeli forces have intensified within the past week, following protests in response to President Trump’s announcement recognizing...
On December 4, a target missile’s failure to conform to safety requirements caused Israeli program officials to cancel its scheduled test of an Arrow-3 missile interceptor, declaring a ‘no-test.’ The joint Israeli Defense Ministry and U.S. Missile Defense Agency test ended before Arrow 3 systems could even come online, after on-site engineers noticed the target...
The Naval Iron Dome system, first tested in May 2016, completed its final round of testing on Monday. The successful test, in which Grad rockets were fired both individually and in barrages, resulted in the system being declared fully operational by the Israeli Defense Forces. The “Iron Dome of the Sea” was a multi-year joint...
On November 11, the Israeli military shot down a Syrian reconnaissance drone patrolling near the demilitarized zone north of the Golan Heights with a Patriot interceptor missile. While initial reports indicated the unmanned aerial vehicle was Russian-designed, the Israeli military is also investigating if there is a connection to Iran and Hezbollah. “We hold the...
On October 16, Syria’s national “Air Force and Air Defense Day,” a Syrian S-200 surface-to-air missile system fired on several Israeli aircraft flying reconnaissance over Lebanon. The missile interceptor failed to hit its target, and the aircraft safely exfiltrated Lebanese airspace. Several hours later a separate Israeli sortie launched four missiles at the S-200 site...
