ISRAEL SUCCESSFUL TEST FIRE OF FOUR ARROW MISSILE INTERCEPTOR
TEL AVIVI 5 Jan. (IPS) The Israel Air Force on Sunday successfully launched
four Arrow interceptor missiles nearly simultaneously from a base in the center
of the country, according to the press, quoting unidentifiyed military sources.
The approximately $10 million test launching was the first time Israel fired more than one Arrow missile in the same attempt, Ha’aretz added.
[The anti-missile launch took place hours before a new terrorist suicide operation rocked the old bus station and a nearby pedestrian mall in Tel Aviv, killing at least 15 persons and wounding 30 others, seven seriously, Israel radio announced.
Hundreds of people were in the area when the explosions, the first in the last weeks took place. The last suicide attack was on 21 November, when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up and killed 11 people on a bus in the Jerusalem suburb of Kiryat Menahem.
The two suicide bombers blew themselves up around 6:30 P.M., within less than a minute of one another. No group has yet claimed responsibility].
The launch was meant to test the ability to dispatch missiles - one of them armed with a warhead - to different targets.
Security sources have said they are convinced that the Arrow - which can travel at nine times the speed of sound to intercept hostile warheads as far as 30 miles away from their targets, according to an American Israel Public Affairs Committee report - can intercept any Iraqi missile, including Scuds.
Air Force chief Major General Dan Halutz said Sunday that Iraq's capabilities at present are limited, and that the IAF is prepared to deal with the possibility of an Iraqi attack on Israel.
"We think about what could come our way, but we predict that it won't be too serious. Iraq has limited aerial and missile capabilities, and we are also preparing for any surprises", Halutz said. Prior to the Arrow test-launch, Halutz said that a successful launch would prove Israel's improved and higher-quality response to surface-to-surface missiles.
Dozens of American soldiers have arrived in Israel over the last few days for a joint exercise between Israeli and American anti-aircraft forces that will start this week and is meant to test the cooperation between the two countries.
Defense officials have set the date for finishing defense preparations for January 15, and estimate the attack on Iraq will take place sometime between January 27 and the beginning of March. They say the threat of a direct Iraqi attack on Israel is much lower now than it was in the 1991 Gulf War, but are worried about major terror attacks, possibly under Iraq's direction, that could take place during a war. ENDS ISRAEL ARROW LAUNCH 5103