Israel Says It Is Developing Hypersonic Missile Interceptor

The Israeli state defense contractor announced Wednesday the development of a new system to counter hypersonic missiles, a week after Iran claimed its first such weapon.

The SkySonic interceptor will "enable us to intercept all kinds of hypersonic threats - hypersonic ballistic missiles, hypersonic cruise missiles," Yuval Steinitz, chairman of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd, told Reuters at a media event.

The state-owned company was behind the Iron Dome and David's Sling air shields that have been effective against a variety of rockets and missiles Iran’s proxy forces have launched against Israel.

The Pentagon was briefed on the development, Rafael said. It declined to say if or when the Israeli military might deploy SkySonic. Israel's defense ministry had no immediate comment.

Hypersonic missiles can fly at least five times faster than the speed of sound and on a complex trajectory, making them hard to shoot down.

Iran claimed its hypersonic missile, dubbed Fattah (conqueror) has a range of 1,400 kilometers, can breach and overcome all anti-missile shields, and hits speeds of Mach 13-15, which means about 13 to 15 times faster than the speed of sound -- known as Mach 1.

Currently available technology perhaps supports hypersonic missiles flying at 5-8 Machs, so Iran's claim of 15 mach speed seems an exaggeration.

A true hypersonic missile should also be maneuverable to be useful, which poses a significant challenge not only to Iran but even for great military powers, such as the United States, which still has not fielded such a weapon.

Although President Vladimir Putin had announced in 2018 the production of Kinzhal as a “hypersonic” weapon that could overcome all existing air defense systems, in May, Ukraine used US-supplied Patriot batteries to down several Kinzhals, shattering the myth of a Russian hypersonic weapon.

An animated video rendition of SkySonic issued by Rafael showed an interceptor missile taking off vertically from a launch battery. The missile's warhead is then shown detaching and flying with its own booster toward an incoming threat.

Rafael said the system would be unveiled at the Paris Air Show next week.

Iran has intensified its anti-Israel rhetoric this year, openly taking credit for rocket and missile attacks launched by its Palestinian and Lebanese proxies and vowing to destroy the Jewish state.

Having restored relations with Saudi Arabia, Tehran feels emboldened and out of isolation in the region. It also continues to build close military ties with Russia, delivering drones and possibly missiles for the invasion of Ukraine.

When Iran on June 6 unveiled its Fattah missile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: "To any such development, we have an even better response." He did not elaborate.

With reporting by Reuters