Israel recently received a new Patriot missile defense battery as part of a bid
to improve its defenses in face of potential new conflicts in the
region.
The battery arrived in Israel over a month ago. Its arrival was
first revealed in
Yediot Aharonot on Friday. The new battery will be dismantled
and parts will be used to upgrade existing batteries already deployed throughout
the country.
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The Patriot currently serves as the mid-tier component of
Israel’s multi-layered missile defense system. Short-range rockets are
intercepted by the Iron Dome and the Arrow 2 is the top tier, designed to
intercept long-range ballistic missiles.
In July, the IAF announced that
it was upgrading the Patriot with new software updates and hardware changes. The
purpose of the upgrade is to enable the Patriot launchers and accompanying
components to operate the system’s new generation of interceptors which are used
by the new generation Patriot called PAC 3.
Israel’s existing launchers
can fire four missiles, and once upgraded to accommodate PAC 3 interceptors,
they will be able to fire 16 missiles each: four missiles in each of the
launcher’s four canisters.
The IAF eventually plans on phasing out the
Patriot missile systems and replacing them with the David’s Sling, a missile
defense system currently under development by Rafael and the US-based
Raytheon.
David’s Sling is expected to have a longer range than the
Patriot and will also one day replace the Hawk surface-to-air missile systems in
air defense missions.