Israel, U.S. Test Nuke Missile Defense
Pastor Dale Morgan
Israel, U.S. Test Nuke Missile Defense*
By ARON HELLER
The Associated Press
Sunday, March 18, 2007; 1:26 PM
JERUSALEM -- Thousands of American and Israeli troops conducted an
operation Sunday to test new ways of intercepting missiles able to carry
nuclear, chemical and biological warheads, American and Israeli military
officials said.
Israel and the U.S. are concerned that Iran could be developing nuclear
weapons and ballistic missiles able to threaten Israel. But both sides
said the timing of the operation in southern Israel's Negev Desert was
routine and unrelated to those fears.
The officials gave details of the operation on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized to do so.
This is the fourth time the two countries have conducted the joint
exercise, code-named "Juniper Cobra," which is held every two years.
The United States is Israel's closest ally, providing about $2.2 billion
a year in military assistance and coordinating many aspects of defense
policy.
"It is a computer simulation exercise designed to test the
interoperability of the air defense system," said Stewart Tuttle, the
U.S. Embassy spokesman in Tel Aviv, who declined to provide details.
"The air defense can protect you against whatever happens to be on the
warhead."
Both Israel and the U.S. are wary of Iran's nuclear program, suspecting
that the goal is to produce nuclear weapons, despite Iran's claims that
it wants nuclear energy only for civilian use. Israel considers Iran its
most serious strategic threat, since its president has often questioned
the legitimacy of Israel's right to exist.
The current drill began last week and is set to end Tuesday.
During the last exercise, in 2005, the tests included integrating the
Israeli-made Arrow anti-ballistic missiles with the U.S. Patriot system
to create a multilayered air defense system.
The concept is for the Arrow, a joint U.S.-Israeli project, to intercept
inbound missiles at high altitudes, while the Patriot provides cover at
lower levels. The U.S. deployed Patriot batteries in Israel in 1991,
when Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel during the first Gulf war.
The Arrow was jointly developed by Israel Aircraft Industries and
Chicago-based Boeing Co. at a cost of more than $1 billion, in response
to the Patriots' failure to intercept many of the incoming Scuds. Some
reports say Patriots missed them all.
"From time to time, the United States and Israel conduct routine
exercises in Israel," the Israeli military said in a statement. "This
exercise has been planned for over a year and is part of a routine
training cycle designed to validate interoperability of air defense
systems."
Military officials said Israel's air defense artillery brigade and the
U.S. Army Corps' 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade were taking part in
the drill.