Israel, U.S. Coordinate Against Shihab-3

Middle East Newsline:

Israel and the United States have been cooperating in developing a missile defense architecture against Iran's Shihab-3 intermediate-range missile. READ MORE

Officials said the Israeli and U.S. militaries have sought to pool their missile defense resources to provide a regional defense against a Shihab-3 attack. They said the effort called for the linking of such U.S. assets as the PAC-3 lower-tier system, the upgraded PAC-2 and the Aegis sea-based missile defense system. Israel would contribute the medium-tier Arrow-2 system.

Israel and the United States have deployed most these missile defense assets during the current Juniper Cobra exercise, which began in Israel on March 10. The exercise, meant to end on March 31, has been based on a scenario that envisioned an Iranian missile attack on Israel or U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Officials said Juniper Cobra has sought to define the role of each of the Israeli and U.S. missile defense assets. They said the Arrow-2, with a reported range of 100 kilometers, would be responsible for the outer tier of defense against an intermediate-range missile.