Defense Ministry: Israel, U.S. Test Defenses Against Mass Missile Attack

The Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Israel had recently completed a test in cooperation with the United States that tested Israel’s ability to withstand a mass missile attack. Participating in the exercise were the Missile Defense Agency in the U.S., the Israeli Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), and United States European Command (EUCOM).

The test was designed to determine whether Israel could withstand a mass missile attack by using defense missile systems after communications on an impending attack were dispatched by US facilities around the world. The test was carried out by Elisra, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, the Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

The test included deployment of Israeli missile defense systems, including several generations of the Arrow interception system, as well as the David Sling’s defense system, both interoperating with American defense systems, including Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot missile defense systems. The test included numerous scenarios of mass missile attacks on Israel, and the efficacy of the defense system to ensure that the threats were diverted, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The statement comes several days after Iran said that it had 100,000 missiles ready to strike Israel. “Hizbullah has 100,000 missiles that are ready to hit Israel to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories if the Zionist regime repeats its past mistakes,” Reuters quoted the deputy commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, as telling an Iranian news agency.