United States approve funds for a total $474 million for Israeli air defense missile programs 0205151

Defence & Security News - Israel / United States
 
United States approve funds for a total $474 million for Israeli air defense missile programs.
United States House of Representatives Armed Services Committee approves Israeli missile defense funds for a total $474 million for the Iron Dome short-range missile system, the David’s Sling medium-range system and the Arrow program.
     
United States House of Representatives Armed Services Committee approves Israeli missile defense funds for a total $474 million for the Iron Dome short-range missile system, the David’s Sling medium-range system and the Arrow program. An Israeli 'Iron Dome' fires a missile against a Grad missile fired from the Gaza Strip
     
The committe has also approved $267.6 million funds for research on anti-tunneling system show Washington and Tel Aviv’s concern about the underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip.

Included in the US-Israel cooperative missile defense funds is $41.4 million for the short-range Iron Dome rocket defense system, which Israel says was key in repelling rocket attacks during last summer’s war with Hamas.

Also included in the amendment approved Thursday are $165 million for David’s Sling, another short-range system, and the longer-range Arrow-3 missile defense programs, as well as $267.6 million in research and development funds.

Iron Dome is the only dual mission counter rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) and Very Short Range Air Defense (VSHORAD) system. The system has been developed to counter very short range rockets and artillery shell (155mm) threats with ranges of up to 70km.

In April 2011 Iron Dome became battle-proven after it successfully intercepted several Grad Rockets that were fired from the Gaza Strip at Southern Israel. It has since then intercepted over 150 rockets that were fired from the Gaza Strip at protected areas in Israel.
     
David's Slingis designed to intercept medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles. David's Slingis designed to intercept medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles.
     
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, in partnership with Raytheon USA, has developed David’s Sling, an affordable and lethal solution against long-range artillery rockets (LRAR), short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM), cruise missiles (CM) and traditional air defense threats. The system provides optimum protection for the homeland as well as forward deployed forces.

The interception array is composed of four Missile Firing Units – each one is carrying 16 Stunner interceptors. The ystem is designed to intercept medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles, fired at ranges from 40 km (24.85 miles) to 300 km (186.41 miles) .

Stunner’s fire-and-forget concept of operation requires minimal cueing from sensor resources to ensure rate of fire, even during saturation attacks.
     
The Arrow 3 is an anti-ballistic missile, jointly funded and developed by Israel. Undertaken by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing, The Arrow system was designed and built by a joint team from Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which is currently working on the Arrow III system.
     
The Arrow 3 is an anti-ballistic missile, jointly funded and developed by Israel. Undertaken by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing, it is overseen by the Israeli Ministry of Defense's "Homa" administration and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. It will provide exo-atmospheric interception of ballistic missiles.

In January 2014, the Arrow III was successfully tested for the second time. The first successful trial of Arrow III was held in February 2013. The interceptor was then sent up an altitude of 100 kilometers.

Arrow III is expected to become operational not later than 2016. The system’s previous version, Arrow II, which has been deployed for more than a decade has reportedly scored around a 90 percent success rate in live trials.
 
 
The three-tier Israeli missile shield consists of the long-range Arrow intercepting system, the mid-range "David's Sling" , still under development, and the successfully operating short-range "Iron Dome."