Agence France-Presse,
Jerusalem: Israel successfully test fired an improved Patriot missile as part of efforts to upgrade the country's radar system following last year's war against Hezbollah, the army said on Wednesday.
The test-firing was conducted on Tuesday in southern Israel as “part of series of improvements conducted in the missile's operational system towards a new radar system that allows a wider cover and detection ranges”.
The experiment launched the missile at a target imitating an airplane flying on an operational mission.
In August, it was reported that the Israeli air force was to buy advanced Patriot PAC-3 missiles, made in the United States and capable of intercepting aircraft and long-range ballistic missiles, to upgrade the air defence system.
The Patriot PAC-3 was reportedly capable of intercepting missiles possessed by Syria, Israel's arch enemy to the north.
The missile, weighing 320 kilos (700 pounds), increases the firepower of the Patriot battery, as 16 of them fit on a launcher, compared with four PAC-2s.
Israel first deployed the Patriot system in 1991, when then Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein fired Scuds on the country during the first Gulf War.
