Did Israel’s Arrow missile interception transform the Middle East? – analysis. Iron Dome has gotten most of the media coverage for the last decade, but the Arrow is the top tier of Israel’s missile shield. The spaceflight upper-tier portion of Israel’s missile defense, Arrow 3, was declared operational on January 18, 2017. Arrow 3 operates at greater speeds, greater range and at greater altitudes than Arrow 2, intercepting ballistic missiles during the space-flight portion of their trajectory. According to the chairman of the Israeli Space Agency, Arrow 3 may serve as an anti-satellite weapon, which would make Israel one of the world’s few countries capable of shooting down satellites .
