Israel and the United States carried out joint simulation drills in the central part of Israel, where Israel’s Arrow, David’s Sling, and Iron Dome air defense systems, as well as United States’ Patriot, Aegis, and Thaad systems, were tested, the Israeli Defense Ministry (IMoD) said on Monday.
“The IMoD’s Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Israeli Air Defense Command and the US Air & Missile Defense Task Force carried out a joint simulation training exercise in the military laboratory Elbit Systems that focused on protecting Israel from ballistic threats,” the ministry tweeted.
The IMoD's Israel Missile Defense Organization, the US Missile Defense Agency, the Israeli Air Defense Command, and the US Air & Missile Defense Task Force carried out a joint simulation training exercise in late July that focused on protecting Israel from ballistic threats pic.twitter.com/evMdBXt111
— Ministry of Defense (@Israel_MOD) September 5, 2022
During the exercise, a synchronized use of the air defense systems was simulated in the Israeli military laboratory Test-Bed that was developed by Elisra, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems.
The laboratory simulates the use of air defense systems and shows as well as records data in real-time, which facilitates a detailed scenario analysis.
“The combination of the different systems significantly improves our forces’ readiness to face evolving threats on several fronts simultaneously. The battle lab, which was developed at Elbit Systems by the IMDO and the MDA over the past thirty years, is constantly adapting to meet the challenges posed by our dynamic arena, ” Moshe Patel, the head of the IMDO, was quoted by The Jerusalem Post as saying.
For several months Israel and the US have been working on the creation of a joint air defense agreement with some of Israel’s neighboring countries, including Morocco, Egypt and Bahrain, to counter aerial missile threats posed by nearby Iran.
Earlier, Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave of Lockheed Martin said they expect to see an increase in demand for its anti-missile systems, including PATRIOT and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), amid Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
“PAC-3 [The PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3], THAAD, we would expect there to be some interest, but again, it’s just really early stages there. You know, PAC-3 already has penetration in Europe. It is 14 countries that we export PAC-3 to. Five of those are in Europe today,” Malave said during the 38th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference.
Patriot is a long-range defense system intended for countering ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as advanced aircraft. The systems have been deployed in Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Sweden, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Romania, Spain, and Taiwan.
On May 30, South Korea approved a $605 million project to procure an unspecified number of US-developed Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile interceptors and upgrade its PAC-2 launchers to the PAC-3 modification by 2027 in light of the North’s recent missile launches.
THAAD is capable of shooting down short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles and, so far, has been deployed in Romania, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and South Korea. In April, Lockheed Martin won a $1.4 billion modification contract extension to produce more THAAD interceptors for the United States and Saudi Arabia.
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