Wednesday’s newsletter included an item about the ballistic missiles Houthi rebels in Jordan launched at Israel. As significant as the fact that these missiles were launched is the fact that the IDF shot one of them down with its Arrow missile-defense system. The Arrow represents the top tier in Israel’s layered defensive apparatus—designed for long-range, high-altitude projectiles—while the Iron Dome intercepts low-altitude rockets and David’s Sling defends against everything in between. Yonah Jeremy Bob explains:
[T]his was not the first time the Arrow shot something down. In 2017, it shot down a Syrian surface-to-air missile that missed Israeli aircraft and sailed into Israeli airspace. But . . . the ballistic missile from Yemen was a much more difficult target and was the quality of target for which the Arrow was produced.
In 2022, then-U.S. CENTCOM chief General Kenneth McKenzie said that Iran had over 3,000 ballistic missiles, not counting its increasing number of cruise missiles. Only a portion of these can reach Israel, but the point is that, since the 1990s, the Islamic Republic has had weapons that could reach Israel, and while Jerusalem hoped that its Arrow missile shield would hold up, it had never been fully tested.
Certainly, it was a shot of confidence in the arm when Germany purchased the Arrow system, with a historic signing last month. But there is nothing like actually shooting down a high-quality ballistic missile with all of the real stress of an operational situation.
Read more on Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-771079#771079