Can Hamas Rockets bypass Israel's ARROW 3 Defense System?

Late at night on October 31, three missiles were launched from the Yemeni desert along the Red Sea coastline. Their target, The sunny resort town of Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city, located at a triangle of borders between Egypt and Jordan.

Based on its speed, size and trajectory, the IAF concluded that the missile was of Iranian design and had been fired from an area in Yemen, controlled by the Houthis,

IAF commanders gave the green light and launched an Arrow-2 interceptor from a battery stationed somewhere in Israel. Within minutes, the two missiles met somewhere over Jordan,

While Israel has been using the Iron Dome missile defense system to defend against short-range rockets like the ones Hamas fires, this was the first time Israel used the Arrow, a missile defense system it began developing in the mid 1990, in combat.

A week later, Israel again used the Arrow, although this time it was the next generation variant known as the Arrow-3, which intercepted another Iranian missile fired from Yemen outside the earth’s atmosphere, pushing the boundaries once again of Israeli technology and missile defense. The interception could not have come at a better time for the manufacturer, Israel Aerospace Industries. On November 23, Israel finalized the first export sale of the Arrow-3 to Germany for a whopping $3.6 billion.

This sends an important message to Iran as well because the same type of missiles that the Houthis fired are deployed in Iran and they can see that Israel can intercept them,” explained Yair Ramati, former head of the Israeli Missile Defense Organization. “It shows that the system is effective.”

The story of the Arrow and its successful use is just one regarding the new technologies that Israel has been using in the anti-Hamas war in Gaza that was sparked by the October 7 invasion.

The arrow-3 uses a kinetic interceptor system, which means that the interceptor missile will hit a ballistic missile and destroy it directly.

The Arrow-3 interceptor missile is equipped with radar and infrared sensors to detect ballistic missile targets. The Arrow-3 missile is part of Israel's layered air defense system, which consists of the Arrow-2, the David's Sling system, and the Iron Dome.

Arrow-2 and David's Sling are designed to intercept ballistic missiles below Earth's atmosphere, while Iron Dome is designed to intercept short-range rockets and missiles. Israel has tested the Arrow-3 successfully several times.

This missile is believed to be capable of intercepting ballistic missiles from Iran, which is a major threat to Israel's security. the advantages of the Arrow-3 missile, Capable of intercepting ballistic missiles outside the Earth's atmosphere, which is an area that is more difficult for other missile defense systems to reach. It has high speed, so it can catch fast-moving ballistic missiles. Has a kinetic interceptor system, which is considered more effective than other interceptor systems. The presence of the Arrow-3 missile gives Israel the ability to protect itself from medium and long-range ballistic missile attacks. This missile can also be used to protect other countries from ballistic missile threats.