ISRAEL, U.S. SUCCESSFULLY TEST ANTI-MISSILE LASER SYSTEM ISRAEL LINE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1996 The Pentagon announced that the first trial of a jointly developed Israeli-American anti-missile laser beam system was successful, YEDIOT AHARONOT reported. In the test, the laser beam system succeeded in intercepting an unarmed Katuysha rocket at short-range. The trial took place Tuesday at White Sands military base in New Mexico and was carried out by the Strategic Space Command of the American Ground Corps. Project Director Gerald Wilson said at the conclusion of the test, "At this stage, we believe that we now possess all of the necessary information to move on to the next stage in Project Nautilus." Israel reportedly played a central role in the development of the system, and the successful trial will result in an increased budget for the project. Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported that the successful trial was an important technological achievement, but quoted Defense Ministry sources as saying the project still has a long way to go. YEDIOT AHARONOT reported that Israel is also cooperating with the U.S. in developing an anti-ballistic missile system based on unmanned planes equipped with sensors capable of identifying missile launches. For this project, Israel is developing both unmanned planes capable of remaining airborne for extended time periods as well as interception missiles. Israel Aircraft Industries has demonstrated that such planes can stay airborne for approximately 50 hours. ISRAEL LINE
