Israel’s Arrow Anti-missile System Intercepts Rocket from Syria

March 20, 2017

by: Ilse Posselt

Monday, 20 March 2017 | During Operation Protective Edge, the Jewish state’s 2014 summer war with Hamas, Israel’s short-range anti-missile system proved invaluable in protecting civilian lives. Over the 50 days of battle, the terror group ruling Gaza fired nearly 5,000 rockets and mortars at Israeli targets. The Iron Dome system achieved an astonishing intercept success rate of 90%, saving countless Israeli lives. The Iron Dome became a household name, sought after by many countries.

Last week, another offering in Israel’s air defense arsenal proved its mettle under fire. According to a statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Jewish state’s Arrow-3 system successfully intercepted an anti-aircraft missile which Syria fired at Israeli jets on Thursday night. This marks the first time the Arrow-3 long-range anti-missile system was used operationally.

In a rare and unprecedented confirmation of operations conducted in foreign airspace, the IDF statement explained that the Syrian attack came as IDF jets returned to base following a strike near Palmyra. Arab media reported that the target of the Israeli strike was a convoy carrying state-of-the-art weapons from the war-torn country to Hezbollah.

The statement released by the IDF on Friday confirmed that Israeli jets “targeted several targets in Syria” at approximately 2:30 am, which resulted in an attempt by Syrian military to shoot down the aircraft. “Several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria following the mission and IDF aerial defense systems intercepted one of the missiles,” the statement said. Two more projectiles landed in open spaces in Israel without causing any damage or injury.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military launched the three missiles from the eastern part of the country, after which the projectiles travelled through the Jordan Valley en route to Jerusalem. As a result, a Red Alert rocket siren sounded at 2:43 am in parts of the Jordan Valley.

According to The Times of Israel, the intercepted missile struck in Jordan. Reuters reported that witnesses recounted hearing the sound of two distinct explosions as far as the central Israeli town, Modiin, and Jerusalem. Pictures of what is said to be debris from the Arrow missile began circulating on social media as early as Friday morning.

Since the start of the bloody civil war in Syria some six years ago, Jerusalem has chosen to remain on the sidelines of the conflict. However, a number of senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister, Avigdor Liberman, have disclosed that the Jewish state will not refrain from acting to ensure that chaos of civil war is not used as a cover to smuggle advanced weapons from Syria to Hezbollah for use against Israeli targets. An Iranian proxy, Hezbollah is perched right on the Jewish state’s northern border.

Liberman confirmed Israel’s stance on Sunday, saying, “We have no interest in interfering in the Syrian civil war, not for nor [sic] against (President Bashar) Assad. Our main problem is with the transfer of advanced weapons from Syria to Lebanon. That is why every time we identify an attempt to smuggle game-changing weapons, we will act to thwart it. There will be no compromise on this issue. If the IDF does choose to act, there is a real reason for it.”

This is the second time in six months that the Syrian military used its air defense system against the Jewish state. In September 2016, Assad’s forces launched two missiles at Israeli jets. At the time of the strike, the aircraft were heading back to base after conducting a mission in Syria in retaliation for a mortar shell that struck the Golan Heights from Syria.

The Arrow-3 system is designed to obliterate intercontinental ballistic missiles emerging from outside the earth’s atmosphere, thus shooting down “conventional, nuclear, biological or chemical warheads close to their launch sites,” The Times of Israel reports.

As part of Israel’s three-tiered missile defense system, the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow-3 systems are aimed to guard the skies of Israel against short, medium and long-range airborne threats. Iron Dome protects Israel from short-range projectiles fired from Gaza, while the Arrow-3 fills the top layer in the multifaceted defense system.

The missiles from Syria were, however, not the only fire Israel endured over the weekend. On Saturday morning, a rocket was fired from Gaza into the southern part of Israel. The IDF responded with tank and jet strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Over the past month-and-a-half, Israel has suffered five rocket attacks from Gaza and six from the Sinai Peninsula.

According to Alex Fishman writing for Ynet News, the two military incidents may prove the harbingers of troubled times ahead. “The winds of war,” Fishman writes, “are blowing on Israel’s borders.” Although the two incidents are entirely unrelated, he warns that they “point to the fact that the relative calm along the borders in the past few years, which has become a symbol of security stability and Israel’s deterrence abilities, is gradually wearing out.”

Posted on March 20, 2017

Source: (Bridges for Peace, 20 March 2017)

Photo Credit: Ministry of Defense/ MFA