JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel and the United States carried out a joint missile test in the Mediterranean Sea.
Russia raised an alarm on Tuesday morning after it detected the unannounced missile launch.
Israel’s Defense Ministry in a statement confirmed that it had carried out a test of the Sparrow target missile, part of the Arrow III defense system, in conjunction with U.S. missile defense agency officials.
Hours after the U.S. Navy initially denied that it took part in the test, the Pentagon released a statement that said the U.S. Department of Defense “provided technical assistance and support” to the Israeli Missile Defense Organization flight test.
Pentagon press secretary George Little said in a statement that the test “was long planned to help evaluate the Arrow Ballistic Missile Defense system’s ability to detect, track, and communicate information about a simulated threat to Israel.”
“The United States and Israel cooperate on a number of long-term ballistic missile defense development projects to address common challenges in the region,” Little said, adding that the test had nothing to do with U.S. consideration of a military strike on Syria in response to its use of chemical weapons against its citizens.
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