Israel says anti-rocket system aces first live try

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli interceptor system developed to shoot down the short-range rockets favored by Palestinian and Lebanese guerrillas passed its first live trial on Wednesday, a defense official said.

Iron Dome's success could improve the prospects of Israel eventually ceding West Bank land to the Palestinians, as Israeli officials have said that any withdrawals should be conditional on the deployment of a reliable defense against rocket attacks.

Designed by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Iron Dome uses small guided missiles to blow up Katyusha-style rockets. Israel plans to station the first working unit outside the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip next year.

"This was the first time Iron Dome was tested with the aim of a metal-to-metal result," an Israeli defense official said, describing the mid-air interception. "The (target) rocket was completely destroyed."

Iron Dome would be capable of intercepting rockets with ranges of between 5 km (2 miles) and 70 km (45 miles), the official said.

The project was spurred by Israel's 2006 war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, during which 4,000 rockets rained down on its northern border communities.

Israel has seen similar attacks by Palestinian guerrillas in Gaza, from which it withdrew in 2005. A surge in the salvoes prompted an Israeli offensive last December which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians.

"When you don't have a system like this, you can get dragged into wars that prove far more expensive," said Alon Ben-David, an Israeli strategic analyst.

Israel envisages Iron Dome becoming the lowest level of a multi-tier aerial shield capped by Arrow, a partly U.S.-funded system which shoots down ballistic missiles at higher altitudes.

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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