Boaz Levy, CEO of Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI), told attendees at the Jerusalem Post Washington Conference that IAI is working closely with the US Missile Defense Agency in missile defense, calling the arrangement between the two organizations “a close partnership, not a co-production.” He noted that 50% of the missile parts are produced in the United States.
Recalling the history of missile defense development, Levy said the concept was initiated in the US by President Ronald Reagan, who asked whether a bullet could intercept another bullet. “We Israelis proved that a bullet could strike a bullet outside the atmosphere with a high level of accuracy.
“When we started this journey with our American colleagues at the Missile Defense Administration (MDA), we never thought that these types of weapons would be used to defend our nation, but they were, first against the Houthis, and then against the missiles launched from Iran, aimed at our population centers. I was very proud to see that the system that we worked on thirty years earlier, trying to analyze future threats, worked perfectly,” said Levy.
The impetus for successfully developing sophisticated missile defense technology, Levy said, was the need to create a practical solution to the threat of missile attack. “We all know that necessity is the mother of invention. This is how we live in Israel. We know we have no other choice,” he noted.
Levy discussed the collaborative nature of Israel’s missile defense system development. “We are working very closely with the US Missile Defense Agency,” he said. “We are working very closely with the administration here. When we see this cooperation, where engineers speak the same language, I think we should think about the future.”
Levy said that future development lies in advancing technology jointly with the United States to meet future threats. “There are engineers at Israel Aerospace Industries who are thinking about the next challenges, thinking about the next solutions. We should do it together, join forces and do it as allies, and I believe that that’s what will happen at the end of the day.”
Israel’s cutting-edge technology determined the outcome of the 12-day war with Iran, he said, adding that Israel is already working on the Arrow 4 and Arrow 5 models to counter future threats. “It’s not only looking toward the future,” he concluded. “It’s sharing and having the capability to have all the assets together, control them, and find the optimum solution to any case.”
This article was written in cooperation with Israel Aerospace Industries.