Arrow-3 Developers Win Israel Defense Prize

Jerusalem, 27 June, 2017 (TPS) -- The creators of the Arrow-3 Missile Defense System and an unnamed project associated with the Prime Minister’s Office won the 2017 Israel Defense Prize Monday.

The Defense Ministry said in a release that the Arrow-3, created by Israel’s Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael and the Israel Air Force, would significantly reduce the possibilities of ballistic missiles impacting the State of Israel.

In addition, the Ministry said a second prize was awarded to a project developed and implemented by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Intelligence Division. The statement said the project “was made possible by daring, exceptional operational ability, combined with a highly impressive technological innovation. The project successfully tackles a wide variety of threats and its contribution to the security of the State of Israel is truly unique.”

President Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin praised the winners, saying they had displayed professional dedication to the safety of Israel.

“The Israeli public does not know how much it owes you, you chose to dedicate your creative powers to the state…in 2017 that is not self-evident,” Rivlin said.

The award is considered the top prize in the defense industry and one of the country’s most prestigious.  In a statement, the Ministry said that prizes focused this year on both operational and technology projects that contributed to Israel’s qualitative edge both on the battlefield and in cyberspace.

The prize, an initiative of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, has been awarded every year since 1957. Previous prizes have been awarded for the Merkava Mark III Tank, the Iron Dome and Arrow missile defense systems, the Trophy active protection system of tanks and armored personnel carriers, Rafael’s family of air-to-air Missiles, the Uzi submachine gun, the Gabriel Missile and more.

Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman said the ability to innovate stood at the heart of Israel’s qualitative advantage, while Defense Ministry Director General, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Udi Adam added, “you have proven again that even the skies are not the limit: All of the operational projects today ‘live and breathe’ and successfully challenge the systems against each other every day and hour [after] hour.”

The Arrow-3 Missile Defense System project, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the Rafael and the Israel Air Force, is an interceptor missile capable of engaging long-range, high-altitude, precise ballistic missiles above the earth’s atmosphere.