US may pull out of Arrow-3 ABM development programme with Israel
06 Apr 2009
The United States may well pull out of its partnership with Israel in the development of the Arrow-3 missile defence programme and instead offer it the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) anti-ballistic missile system, according to emerging reports in the media.
The changed circumstances may result because of cuts by the US Congress in the defence budget.
The land-based Arrow-3 system is the latest version of a system designed to intercept ballistic missiles from a greater distance than the Arrow-2 system, which is already inducted in the Israeli Air Force.
Reports suggest that the SM-3 may offer several advantages over the Arrow; including far longer range taking on targets 170 miles above ground, compared to 60 miles for the Arrow.
In addition, the SM-3 is also available in a naval version and can be mounted on ships. It is already inducted in limited numbers onboard ships of both the US and Japanese navies.
The SM-3 will be much costlier, at an estimated $10 million per unit, as compared to $1.5–2 million for the Arrow.
The Obama administration is engaged in a exercise aimed at seeking ways to halve the budget deficit over the next four years. This entails imposing budget cuts across the board.
It is also learnt that Israel's defence ministry will now have to provide the Pentagon with quarterly reports on the way it is utilizing military aid. All military aid will have to be spent only on defensive purposes. The audit will have to detail not only how much is spent, but also on what.
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