Strategic Weapons: April 15, 2000

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Having deployed its first Arrow interceptor battery, Israel is now focusing its anti-missile efforts on finding and destroying missiles long before they appear on Israeli radar. The general plan is to build an unmanned aerial drone able to orbit over enemy territory for up to 60 hours carrying four (or six) heat-seeking missiles that could lock-onto and destroy a Scud or other missile during the first minute of its flight. After studying several existing UAVs, the Israelis have decided to start with a clean sheet of paper. They are looking for a US partner to design a special-purpose UAV which might be used by both Israel and the US for theater missile defense.--Stephen V Cole