Artist's impression of a first-of-its-kind Sky Sonic system
Israel is building the world's first air defense system designed to shoot down hypersonic missiles, which is a major problem for Russia and Iran, who claim they can't be shot down.
Israeli defense firm Rafael is working on a new «Sky Sonic». a system specifically designed to intercept hypersonic missiles that can fly in the upper atmosphere and move at five times the speed of sound.
The Sky Sonic system “will allow us to intercept all kinds of hypersonic threats — hypersonic ballistic missiles , hypersonic cruise missiles,” Yuval Steinitz, chairman of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., told Reuters.
A CGI video demonstration provided by Rafael showed an interceptor missile launched from a ground battery. The interceptor's warhead separates and flies towards the incoming missile.
A spokesman for Rafael said the Sky Sonic would soon be flight-tested, but did not provide a timetable for when it could be ready. The Israeli military has not commented on the announcement, while the Pentagon has been briefed on the project according to Reuters.
The announcement hints at a possible new era of European air defense in which Israel, which is also selling Germany an Arrow 3 interceptor costing £3 billion plays an important role.
However, with Sky Sonic still being developed and Israel still unwilling to provide military support to Kiev, it is unlikely that this will be deployed in Ukraine in the near future.
Both Russia and Iran have ramped up production in recent months hypersonic missiles against the background of statements about the impossibility of intercepting them, which could be a serious headache for the defense of Israel, Ukraine and their allies.
Russian hypersonic complex «Dagger». missiles have already been fired at Ukrainian cities, and a new Iranian Fattah missile is aimed at Tel Aviv, possibly to deter a potential Israeli strike on the regime's nuclear program.
Tehran is also sending hundreds, if not thousands of rockets and drones to use against Ukraine, in exchange for powerful Russian fighter jets that the regime can use to attack Israel. >
“The war in Ukraine and Russia’s use of Iranian drones have changed European priorities and created new opportunities to deepen engagement with Israel,” he said. Hugh Lovatt, Senior Analyst, European Council on Foreign Relations, Middle East.
“Faced with a new set of security challenges posed by Russia, the EU and its member states now increasingly view Israel as an important security partner that can provide access to valuable military weapons and cyber technology,” he added.
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«For many European capitals, including ardent supporters of Palestinian rights, national security interests are more important than Israeli actions against the Palestinians.»
Yehoshua Kaliski, senior fellow at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies, said: “As far as Russian hypersonic missiles are concerned, they are working effectively, but they are not a game changer, as we can see from the results of the war over the past week. Their use looks to me like just another vehicle being used to destroy infrastructure or harm civilians.»
«As for the Iranians, it looks like they've only done ground tests — it probably hasn't been introduced into the exploitation,” he added. .
Israel is increasingly concerned about Russia's military support for Iran, but at the same time is resisting US pressure to arm Kiev, or at least allow its powerful Iron Dome air defense system to be used.
This is partly because Russia has a large Jewish population, which Israel fears could face persecution if relations deteriorate significantly. Russia also controls much of the airspace over neighboring Syria, where Israel frequently launches airstrikes against Iranian-backed militias.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has privately complained to Vladimir Putin about his military support for Iran, US news site Axios reported on Thursday. />
Also on Thursday, the head of the German defense committee approved a €3.99bn (£3.34bn) payment for Israel's Arrow 3 air defense system, which will be able to shoot down missiles above the atmosphere and provide air cover to neighboring EU member states .
The funds came from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's €100 billion defense package, which aims to bolster Germany's security in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, Iran, Israel's nemesis in the region, revealed that, it claims to have been the regime's first domestic hypersonic missile, dubbed the Fattah, which can allegedly fly at 15 times the speed of sound and hit Tel Aviv within 400 seconds.
Rafael is already well known as an Israeli government contractor, having developed the Iron Dome missile defense system capable of intercepting about 90% of the missiles fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip.
He also developed the David Sling, a similar system that was first used successfully during the May 9-13 round of hostilities between Israel and Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
According to Israeli media, the country already has defense systems that should be able to shoot down hypersonic missiles, but none one of them was not adapted specifically for this threat.
In response to the Iranian hypersonic missile unveiled last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that «any such development, we have an even better answer», not going into details.
Although the Iranian Fattah has not yet been used in combat, Russia reportedly fired six of its Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at Ukraine in May, all of which were intercepted. officials said, suggesting that the weapon's capabilities may have been exaggerated.
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