The United States has said it will provide the full funding for the development and production of Israel's Arrow 3 anti-missile system, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

Citing defense officials, the report said that the American decision was revealed during an annual session of the strategic dialogue that Israeli Defense Ministry Director-General Pinchas Buhris held with his U.S. counterpart in Washington Wednesday.

In recent months, there has been grave concerns in Israel that the United States, which has supported the Arrow project since its inception over 20 years ago, would end the funding due to major cuts made to the U.S. defense budget by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

The development cost for the coming year will likely reach some100 million U.S. dollars, according to the report.

Israel and the United States are also developing David's Sling, a missile defense system with a range between 70 and 250 km against medium-range missiles.

The Arrow 3 will be a longer-range version of the Arrow defense system currently in Israel Defense Forces operation, said the report, adding that it will be capable of intercepting incoming enemy missiles at higher altitudes and farther distance away from Israel.


Source:Xinhua