Israel tests anti-missile sys. in 'message' to Iran
Monday, February 12, 2007 - ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, February 12 (IranMania) - Israel carried out a successful
night-time test of its Hetz (Arrow) anti-missile missile system in what
public television described as a "message to Iran", AFP reported.
defence ministry confirmed the test-firing, the first since
December 2005 when the military announced the system was fully
operational.
"This test-firing was aimed at checking the functioning of the Hetz
at night and in extreme conditions against a ballistic missile," a
ministry statement said. "All the system's components worked perfectly."
Public television said that a Hetz fired from the Palmahim base,
south of the commercial capital Tel Aviv, intercepted a missile fired from
a high-altitude aircraft, the television said.
Public radio said the missile firing was designed to imitate Iran's
Shahab-3, which has a range sufficient to reach Israel.
Army radio noted that the firing coincided with the Iranian regime's
celebrations for the anniversary of its overthrow of the Western-backed
shah in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
For the first three years after its launch in 1988, the United
States paid 80 percent of the Hetz project's cost, but now the costs are
shared equally.
Since the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the
project's primary focus has been Iran, which Israel now sees as its main
threat.
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