By ARIEH O'SULLIVAN, JPOST.COM STAFFIsrael test-fired its anti-ballistic Arrow 2 missile Friday, successfully hitting an incoming target rocket, the defense ministry said.
The Arrow missile was launched from an air force base in the center of the country and struck a Black Sparrow target missile launched from a plane flying over the Mediterranean. The target missile is similar in capabilities to the Iranian Shihab 3, which Iran hopes to arm with a nuclear warhead.
The launch was the fourteenth such test of the Arrow missile system. In the last test, conducted in the summer of 2004, the arrow missed its target.
Israel Radio pointed out that the Arrow project's price tag so far has surpassed $2.4 billion, two-thirds paid for by the American government.