US Congress Subcommittee Approves Israeli Missile Programme Funding
The US House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee has approved $235.7m for the US-Israeli missile defence programs for the 2012 fiscal year. The proposed funding is for the jointly developed missile defence programmes Arrow 2, Arrow 3 and David's Sling Arrow. Of the total funding,
The US House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee has approved $235.7m for the US-Israeli missile defence programs for the 2012 fiscal year.
The proposed funding is for the jointly developed missile defence programmes Arrow 2, Arrow 3 and David's Sling Arrow.
Of the total funding, $110.5m will be allocated for David's Sling, also known as Magic Wand, which is being developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Raytheon to intercept missiles with ranges of 70-250km.
About $66.2m will be allocated for the Arrow 3 anti-missile system, which aims to intercept intermediate range ballistic missiles above the atmosphere, while $59m is for upgrading the Arrow 2 system.
The funding follows the recent US military aid of $205m granted for the procurement of four additional Iron Dome anti-missile batteries.
The total amount approved for the joint missile defence programmes is still unknown, but the aid for the fiscal year 2011 totals $217.7m.