A war plays out inside "The Cube"

PALMAHIM AIR BASE, Israel, May 22 (Xinhua) -- At first sight, the action on the oversize computer screen could easily be mistaken for a home video game. Yellow triangles designating Scud missiles, home in on Israel from Lebanon and Syria. Blinking blue triangles marking Arrow interceptor missiles, slowly head in their direction on a certain collision course.

The command-and-control center of Arrow II, Israel's system designed to intercept and demolish ballistic missiles high in the stratosphere, is one of the Israel Air Force's (IAF) inner sanctuaries, guarded by many and accessible to few.

The military recently invited foreign media to tour the coastal Palmahim air base, south of Tel Aviv, on a rare visit that included, for the first time, a view of Arrow's operators in simulated action.

THE ARROW SYSTEM

The Arrow is a joint-project between Israel Aerospace Industries and the Boeing Corporation. Its development was launched in the mid-1980s as part of then U.S. President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, an ambitious endeavor that aimed to provide a ballistic shield against a potential Soviet nuclear strike.

While the Reagan program dissolved not long after its inception, the painstaking development of the Arrow continued. The system, which has since been partly underwritten by the U.S., was declared operational by the IAF in March 2000, making Israel the first country to employ a domestic defense capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.

The Arrow has been put through numerous live-fire trials over the years, successfully shooting down an assortment of projectiles, but has not yet been tested in real combat.

The system's next-generation missile, Arrow III, is still in the development stage, and is slated for deployment in 2014. IAF officials say the system would significantly bolster the defense against Iran's Shahab ballistic missile.

THREE-TIER DEFENSE

Arrow is the top tier of Israel's multi-layered defense screen, a concept still in its infancy that purports to provide a comprehensive shield against a host of changing threats -- from homemade, short-range rockets fired by Gaza militants to long- range ballistic missiles.

At the heart of the new concept is what has become known as " active air defense," the deployment of a wide array of anti- missile and rocket systems as a critical supplement to the military's attack-and-deterrence capabilities.

The concept gained momentum in the aftermath of the 2006 Lebanon war, when 4,000 Katyusha rockets fired by Hezbollah guerrillas slammed into northern Israel, and as smaller Grad and Kassam rocket attacks from Gaza into Israeli communities became commonplace.

At the lowest tier is Iron Dome, a system designated to deal with short-range rockets favored by Hamas militants. Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., the IAF deployed two batteries in southern Israel last month. Less than a week later, they successfully destroyed a salvo of eight Grad rockets fired by militants in the latest major round of violence in the region.

IAF officials repeatedly emphasized, however, that the radar- guided Iron Dome is still in the evaluation stage and cannot provide hermetic protection. But its recent success prompted the government to slate 1 billion U.S. dollars for procuring more batteries in the coming years. Foreign countries have also expressed interest in buying the system.

Another system slated to roll off the production line in 2014 is "Magic Wand," also known as "David's Sling," designed to knock out intermediate-range projectiles.

Reporters got a look at the full-scale model of the system's interceptor missile, developed jointly with U.S. missile giant Raytheon, alongside all the other systems that comprise the multi- layered shield, among them the veteran Patriot defense platform.

The American-made Patriot, originally designed as an anti- aircraft system, arrived in Israel during the Gulf War in 1991, when 39 Scuds fired from Iraq hit numerous areas in Tel Aviv, Haifa and elsewhere.

IAF battalions currently deploy an unknown number of Patriot batteries, which are designated to down enemy aircraft and unmanned drones.

But the captain who heads the operations division of a Patriot battalion, said that numerous improvements instilled in the system have upgraded its versatility in dealing with an assortment of threats, including ballistic missiles.