The launch of an Arrow 3 interceptor. Photo: US Missile Defense Agency via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israel and the US will carry out a joint test of the Arrow 3 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) defense system in Alaska in 2018.

The test launch will take place on Kodiak Island on Alaska’s southern coast, and is being conducted as part of a five-to-six year, $80.4 million contract between the Alaska Aerospace Corporation and the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

“[Arrow 3] has significant range constraints within the Mediterranean,” US Navy Vice Admiral James Syring, the MDA’s director, told a congressional meeting last week. “One of the better places to test is in Alaska, from Kodiak, and we intend to do that next year.”

Arrow 3, which is capable of intercepting ICBMs outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, will be tested on targets similar to advanced Iranian ballistic missiles. The system will serve as the upper tier of Israel’s multilayered missile defense program, which also includes the Iron Dome and David’s Sling. Arrow 3 was designed by Israel’s Missile Defense Organization in cooperation with the MDA, and was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries along with the American defense firm Boeing.