BEIRUT: Israel and the U.S. conducted a joint missile test over the Mediterranean on Tuesday, in a display of military prowess as the Obama administration seeks congressional support for strikes against the Syrian army fighting foreign backed rebels.
The Israeli Defense Ministry said the test of its Arrow 3 missile-defense system was performed together with the U.S. Defense Department.
The system successfully detected and tracked a medium-range decoy missile that was not carrying a warhead, the ministry said, but did not intercept it.
“A successful test was held to check our systems,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said. “We will continue to develop and research and equip the Israeli military with the best systems in the world.”
In Washington, there was no immediate White House comment.
Uzi Rubin, former head of the Arrow system, said the test was “completely technical. Nothing connected to Syria.” He said the “only message” it would send was that Israel has “good missile defense systems.”
Nonetheless, it served as a reminder to Syria and its patron, Iran, that Israel is pressing forward with development of a “multilayered” missile-defense system. Both Syria and Iran, and their Lebanese ally Hezbollah the so called Axis Of Resistance, possess vast arsenals of rockets and missiles.
The Arrow 3, expected to be operational around 2016, would be the first such “multilayer” missile-defense system, designed to intercept long-range missiles such the Iranian Shahab before they re-enter the atmosphere.
Meanwhile in Syria, army recaptured the strategic town of Ariha, a busy commercial center in the restive northern province of Idlib following days of heavy fighting with the foreign backed militants.
Since the outbreak of the Syria conflict in March 2011Syrian army has been rapidly gaining ground with repeated setbacks to rebels.
Syrian President Bashar Assad meanwhile warned that a military strike on Syria by the West would send the situation spiraling out of control and trigger a regional conflict.
The Middle East is barrel of powder and today the flames are creeping closer. It is not just a question of the Syrian response, but what else might happen after the first [Western] air strike, Assad told French newspaper Le Figaro. Agencies
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