"Yahalom" Patriot missile test launch
"Yahalom" Patriot missile test launchPhoto: IDF





A new, improved Patriot anti-aircraft missile system passed its tests with flying colors Tuesday at an IDF base in southern Israel. The trial evaluated the improvements made to the missiles' operational system with the aim of widening its range and accuracy.

IDF officials and representatives of the semi-governmental Rafael Advanced Defense Systems firm watched as an improved Patriot missile, dubbed the "Yahalom" ("diamond" in Hebrew), was fired at a mock jet in a simulation of an operational mission, successfully intercepting the target.

Anti-Aircraft Forces Commander Brigadier-General Danny Milo expressed the IDF's satisfaction with the system's performance, saying the successful test means Israel's defense abilities vis-à-vis the "relevant threats" have improved.

The Patriot system, originally designed as an anti-aircraft system, was used by Israel as an anti-missile defense in 1991 during the Gulf War between the United States and Iraq. The Jewish State became a proxy target in the conflict, with Iraq firing surface-to-surface missiles at strategic Israeli targets. Subsequent evaluations found that the Patriots had provided a very incomplete defense against the missiles fired from Iraq.

A senior military source was quoted by Haaretz as saying the improved Patriot system can be put into action immediately, based on its successful performance.

Israel is slated to receive a PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability) missile system from the US, according to media reports. According to a statement on the website of Lockheed Martin, a US-based defense industry firm, the PAC-3 is "a small, highly agile, kinetic kill interceptor for defense against tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and air-breathing threats. The PAC-3TM Missile destroys its targets by direct, body-to-body impact."

It also has 16 launch pods, as opposed to the four-pod batteries Israel currently owns.