Israeli-US missile intercept test declared a success

An anti-missile system jointly developed by Israel and the United States was successfully tested Thursday off the Californian coast, the US Missile Defense Agency said.

The test of the Arrow II system, the seventh of its kind, was carried out at the Point Mugu Sea Range, 70 km northwest of Los Angeles.

"The test represented a realistic scenario that could not have been tested in Israel due to test-field safety restrictions," said the agency in a news release.

An unarmed Scud missile was fired from a platform at sea, where it was tracked by Arrow's Green Pine radar. The air defense system then launched from distant San Nicolas Island an interceptor, which destroyed the Scud in mid-air about 80 km southwest of the island.

"It was a perfect trial, from the point of view of acquiring the target and destroying it," Arrow project chief Arieh Herzog said.

With the help from Washington, Israel developed the Arrow anti-missile system after the 1991 Gulf War, when Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel, causing one death and extensive damage in residential neighborhoods.