Arrow-3 Missile Defense System

Source: This post on Arrow-3 Missile Defense System has been created based on the article “Israel moves forward on deploying Arrow-3 missile defence system in Germany in 2025” published in Economic Times on 12th November 2024.

Why in news?

Recently, Israel and the United States jointly developed and produced the Arrow 3.

About Arrow-3 Missile Defense System

1. The Arrow 3 is an advanced exo-atmospheric interceptor designed to engage long-range threats by intercepting ballistic missiles outside Earth’s atmosphere.

2. It was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing, it has been operated by the Israeli Air Force since 2017. It has a flyout range of 2,400 km.

3. Arrow 3 is the result of a collaboration between Israel and the United States, with its first flight test successfully conducted in 2013. Additional tests in 2014, 2018, 2019, and 2022, held both in Israel and Alaska, demonstrated its effectiveness and reliability.

Key Features:

i) The Arrow 3 missile system boasts a compact and innovative design, weighing approximately half of its predecessor, the Arrow 2.

ii) It is capable of achieving hypersonic speeds, it can defend large areas and is particularly suited to counter long-range threats, including weapons of mass destruction.

iii) It intercepts missiles at altitudes up to 100 km using hit-to-kill technology, which enables the missile to directly destroy incoming warheads.

System Components:

1. Launcher: The Arrow 3 launcher is both mobile and transportable, offering omni-directional coverage and capable of fast, vertical launches from sealed canisters. Each launcher holds up to six canisters, accommodating both Arrow 3 and Arrow 2 interceptors.

2. Propulsion: It is featuring two solid propulsion stages: a booster and a sustainer. The Arrow 3 system provides rapid response times and high-altitude engagement capabilities, ensuring swift interception of threats.

3. Radar and Guidance System: The Arrow 3 uses Elta’s Super Green Pine radar, an L-band system that enables long-range, multi-target tracking. Enhanced with electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM), the radar is resilient to jamming. Additionally, a high-resolution electro-optical sensor allows for precise target acquisition and impact.

4. Battle Management Centre (Citron Tree): The Citron Tree battle management centre serves as the command and control hub, overseeing data processing, threat assessment, and mission control.

This system offers early warning, launch point estimation, and impact point prediction, supporting both manual and fully automated modes to handle multiple threats simultaneously.

5. Launch Control Centre (Hazelnut Tree): The Hazelnut Tree launch control centre, located at the launch site, coordinates between the launchers and the fire control centre.

It is equipped with automated battle management and safety mechanisms to prevent accidental launches, as well as diagnostic tools for maintenance and system checks.

UPSC Syllabus: Science and technology