Israel accelerating Arrow-4, sensor development due to Iranian hypersonic threat
While Israeli intelligence is trying to confirm Iran’s recent declaration that it has successfully developed a hypersonic ballistic missile, the Israeli Defense Forces have already been anticipating such an announcement — and in the last two months have begun accelerating efforts to develop measures to counter the potential new threat, sources say.
Concerns about hypersonic weapons are not new, and Israel started work some years ago on developing the advanced Arrow-4 interceptor, once it became clear that Iran was working to develop more versions of long-range missiles, including cruise missiles. But once Israeli intelligence confirmed that hypersonic missiles were on the wish list for Iran and assessed that Teheran was trying to get relevant technologies, especially from North Korea, a new push began to counter that threat.
Details on these developments are classified, but sources in the defense ministry say the focus is primarily on helping the local defense industry to develop better early warning sensors and systems that are designed to intercept long-range missiles, including hypersonic ones.
Read More: Breaking Defense