U.S., Israel Complete Successful Flight Test of New Sparrow Missile in Mediterranean
by Joshua Levitt
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the Israel Missile Defense Organization completed a successful joint test of a new version of the Sparrow Target Missile on Tuesday, the two defense organizations said in a joint statement.
The test was the first live flight of the Sparrow and was conducted at an Israeli test range over the Mediterranean Sea. The test began at 9:15 AM local time. The Sparrow launched and followed its specified trajectory. The Arrow weapon system’s radar detected and tracked the target, then transferred the information to the Citron Tree battle management control system.
The statement said that the main contractor for the integration and development of the Sparrow is Israel defense contractor Rafael and the main contractor of the Arrow Weapon System is MLM of Israel Aerospace Industries, in conjunction with Boeing.
The missile is fired from a plane, rather than a ship or from land, and traces the flight path of a ground-to-ground Scud B, Scud D or cruise missile, depending on the make, the Times of Israel reported. The joint exercise triggered warning systems of Russia, which has ships in the area and raised its alert level, momentarily, the paper also said.