US Navy uses a missile for the first time to repel Iran’s attack on Israel

The American magazine “The Intercept” said that the United States used, “for the first time” in combat operations, its SM-3 anti-ballistic missile, in order to repel the Iranian attack on Israel.

The report indicated that US Navy warships fired the missile for the first time in a combat operation, during the interception of Iranian ballistic missiles.

The magazine explained that “between 4 to 7” SM-3 missiles were launched from the two American destroyers “Arlie Burke” and “USS Carney” located in the Mediterranean.

For his part, US Secretary of the Navy, Carlos del Toro, said in a Senate hearing on Tuesday: “We launched SM-2 and SM-6 missiles, and over the weekend we launched SM-3 missiles,” in the first acknowledgment of the use of this model. the last one.

The SM-3 missiles are manufactured by Raytheon and are intended for launch from ship-borne systems.

The missile can intercept short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, in addition to its ability to target satellites located near Earth’s orbit. The missile entered service in 2014, and is 6.55 meters long.

The name SM-3 emerged when the United States conducted an interception test of a medium-range ballistic missile in October 2018, which was crowned with success.