The U.S. and Israel will jointly test the Arrow-3 anti-ballistic missile defense system sometime in the coming months at a site on Kodiak Island, Alaska, according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
U.S. Navy Vice-Admiral James Syring, director of the MDA said the agency and Israel will carry out the trial at an isolated location due to the possibility of falling shrapnel from the interception.
“It has significant range constraints within the Mediterranean,” he told the U.S. Congressional House Committee last Wednesday. “One of the better places to test is in Alaska, from Kodiak, and we intend to do that next year.”
The system is to be tested against a target similar to the advanced ballistic missiles which are currently being developed, and which have already been achieved, by Iran.
The Arrow-3 is intended to destroy targets outside the earth’s atmosphere, which enables the system to neutralize any threat, including a missile carrying a nuclear warhead, without its creating damage anywhere on the ground below. The system can also be used – if necessary – to intercept satellites.
Alaska Aerospace CEO Craig Campbell told media the test will be part of a five to six-year, $80.4 million contract announced a year ago between the Missile Defense Agency and the Alaska Aerospace Corporation. But the deal has not yet been finalized, according to Alaska Public Media.
Also part of that contract is a plan for the MDA to launch missiles from Kodiak Island sometime this year as well, including a series of two test launches of the THAAD (Terminal High-Altitude Air Defense ) system this summer, which is being considered as a possible American defense against North Korea.
Officials from the spaceport are set to host a town hall meeting this coming Wednesday to answer questions about the plan to test the Arrow 3 system in 2018, according to the Kodiak Daily Mirror.
The Arrow-3 was jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing Company, and is jointly managed by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the Israel Missile Defense Organization.