Azerbaijan, Baku, July 21 / Trend U. Sadikhova /
Development of the most advanced missile defense system by Israel is not a threat and a warning to its neighbors. It may be even useful for other countries in the region, the Israeli Defense Ministry said.
Tests of the new missile defense system "Iron Dome", which cost more than $200 million for the Israeli leadership, were successfully completed on Monday. It is planned to install two batteries of this type on combat duty in the Israeli army by November.
Yesterday's tests were conducted to further verify the effectiveness of the system to activate it, spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Defense Shlomo Dror said.
"Yesterday we wanted to test the interception of missiles from various sides, as well as launch of rockets at different times of day and in different weather conditions. We hope that by November both systems will be introduced in operation, representative of the defense ministry told Trend.
Testing this unique system, which has no analogues in the world, does not testify that Israel sends a signal to its closest Arab neighbors, Dror said.
"We develop the system not to show the neighbors, it is because of need. After we had so many rockets from Hizballah and Hamas, we develop the system to protect first of all the civilians and of course this system can also protect the soldiers. Everybody can see it and everybody can see that we are developing the system," Dror said over phone from Jerusalem.
The incentive to develop a system capable of intercepting missiles of small and medium-range missiles, was the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
About 4,000 missiles struck the north of Israel. Long-term fire struck south of the country. Intensity was reduced after the operation 'Cast Lead' that killed a thousand and a half of Palestinians in winter 2008-2009, RIA Novosti reported.
Iron Dome is designed for early detection and elimination of multiple objectives in conjunction with other missile defense - "Patriot" and "Arrow". It is able to detect and intercept the 120-millimeter mine.
The new missile defense system differs with lightness to move from one point to another. It does not require re-assembly at the new place, the ministry spokesman said.
"For today we have it quite in the north and in the south but nobody knows when it starts. So again, Israel is a very small country, form one side to another it takes 4 hours. So if you put the system to protect the Gaza borders and there will be some problems in the north it will take 4 hours to move the system from one place from another, " he said.
The facility is very easy so that mean that we are going to move this system to everyplace it is needed, he said.
The developers of the system said that it is able to calculate the trajectory of each identified goal and simply ignores the missiles that do not pose a real threat to defensible sites.
We think that this system can also be very useful to defense of American troops in Afghanistan, it can save life of American soldiers and British soldiers as well, Dror said.
"Israel is the first country who has managed this kind of system, there is no kind in the world and we did it in a very short while, I don't think that in the history something like six or five years any country managed to deploy this kind of system and we are only waiting to begin the operation, Dror said.
Washington, a key ally of Israel, welcomed the successful conclusion of tests, hoping that the air defense system to intercept short-range missiles will be able to provide effective and reliable protection.
The response of Hamas and Hezbollah - Israel's closest neighbors, calling for military resistance to the deployment of air defense may be cry of missile attacks, Dror said. But the system is designed for full protection of the territory, where it will be placed.
"Every time we develop something, we never stop over it, after we finished the development we continue to look for new system, we always trying to develop new things and think about the future threat - he added - We always think about the step ahead"
However, despite its uniqueness, "Iron Dome" has a rather high cost of each race - a few tens of thousands of dollars, while, the Hamas's production of Qassam rockets cost a few hundred, the Israeli media reported.