April 28, 2006 :: News
IranWatch.org recently interviewed Uzi Rubin, former head of Israel’s Arrow missile defense program. Rubin described Iran’s latest effort to field a fleet of nuclear capable ballistic missiles, assessed the threat that Iran’s missiles present to Israel and U.S. forces, and evaluated the ability of missile defenses to block an Iranian attack. He noted that a robust combination of Israeli and U.S. defenses could be “quite effective” against the Iranian threat. For instance, Israel’s Arrow program, which was specifically designed to defend against the Shahab-3, was proven successful in multiple tests against simulated Shabab-3s. Likewise, the U.S. is deploying Standard Missile-3 interceptors on Aegis-equipped warships, which have also been proven successful in recent tests. The U.S. also operates Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors, which were battle-tested during the 2003 Iraq War and shot down all targets engaged. However, Rubin noted that “we never have enough” interceptors, and that Israel and the U.S. remain vulnerable should Iran choose to launch a large-scale attack.
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