Israeli Defense Ministry: Iran’s Threat More Serious By The Day – “Each One Is Not Like The One Before”
May 24, 2009 3 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Iran is making technological advances with its missile technology on almost a daily basis, Col. Guy Aviram from the Defense Ministry’s Research and Development Directorate MAFAT, said Sunday.
Last week, Iran test fired a solid-fuel version of the Ashura ballistic missile that is believed to have a range of 2,000 kilometers. In contrast to the Shihab missile, which is powered by liquid fuel, the Ashura can be stored in underground missile silos and does not need to be fueled, like the Shihab, before launch. The use of solid fuel also grants the missile greater range.
“The trend of using solid fuel is an improvement and central part of the [Iranians'] missile program,” said Aviram, who works in the Defense Ministry’s Homa Missile Defense Agency. “Together with the range and the intentions of the Iranian regime we get a package of technology and intentions that puts us, as the country most threatened by Iran, in a place where every day that passes is not like the day before.”
Last week, Aviram was part of the Defense Ministry delegation which held talks at the Pentagon that culminated in an American decision to provide the full multi-year funding for the development of the Arrow 3. Israel currently operates the Arrow 2, which was successfully tested in April and intercepted a missile which mimicked an advanced Iranian ballistic missile.
The Arrow 3, Aviram said at a military technology conference near Tel Aviv, would be capable of intercepting enemy missiles at higher altitudes and farther away from Israel. “The Arrow 3 will cover the entire country and will start intercepting farther away and higher-up than we’ve seen so far,” he said.
The Arrow 2 missile, which was used in the April interception test, recently underwent a number of upgrades to its avionics and electro-optic honing target-acquisition system, Aviram said.
“The concept is multi-layered to allow us to give response to every threat on a different level,” he said. “We expect there to be more than one chance to intercept incoming missiles, particularly with the long-range missiles which are capable of causing greater damage.”
In addition to the Arrow missile, the Defense Ministry is also developing the David’s Sling system to intercept medium-range rockets as well as the Iron Dome for the short-range rockets fired by Hamas and Hizbullah.
