Israel Partners With U.S. To Accelerate Arrow Interceptor Production

Following a lethal Iranian ballistic missile strike in Haifa, Israel announced on April 6 a plan to partner with a U.S.-based manufacturer to accelerate production of Arrow missile defense interceptors. Israel has used Arrow since October 2023 to intercept hundreds of medium-range ballistic missiles launched from Iran and Yemen.

Continued Threat Demands Acceleration

Arrow is a U.S. and Israeli codeveloped ground-based ballistic missile defense system that constitutes the “upper tier” of Israel’s interceptors, with Arrow 3 designed to protect against long-range ballistic missile threats, intercepting missiles at altitudes over 100 km and potentially much higher. Arrow 2 is also designed to destroy incoming long-range missiles and reportedly has a maximum intercept altitude of approximately 90 km. Arrow 2 and 3 are, respectively, estimated to cost around $3 million and $4 million per interceptor.

The plan to bolster Arrow production emerged as Israel faced missile attacks from Iran and Yemen, with an Iranian missile hitting a residential building in Haifa on April 5, killing four people and injuring approximately 10 others. An Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman confirmed the strike as an example of Iran’s intentional targeting of civilian areas, often with cluster munitions.

Iranian cluster munitions create interception challenges for Israel’s missile defenses. By dispersing submunitions at high altitude, Iran can release dozens of smaller projectiles from a single missile. Intercepting the missiles before submunition release nullifies the threat, but Israel started rationing its interceptor supply, according to a March 27, 2026, Wall Street Journal report.

The United States military confirmed that it had struck more than 13,000 Iranian targets as of April 6, and the IDF announced its strikes had hit 4,000 targets on March 31. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on April 8 that 80 percent of Iran’s missile facilities were “gone.” That leaves some intact, and Iran will be eager to reconstitute that capability, potentially with the help of China.

American Support Will Enable Needed Production Increase

Regardless of whether the current ceasefire holds, more Arrow interceptors are urgently needed to defend against potential Iranian missile attacks.

Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) is the prime contractor for increasing production of Arrow, but it will partner with the U.S.-based company Stark Aerospace. A subsidiary of IAI North America, Stark’s manufacturing facility in Mississippi has produced components for Arrow-3 since 2018. Stark was listed as a partner for Arrow interceptor production in a deal IAI announced in July 2025, following significant expenditure of Arrow in the June 2025 12-Day War.

U.S.-Based Manufacturing Is a Win-Win

Though Israel announced its intention to pursue munitions independence at the end of March, interceptor expenditure during the conflict underlined the need for a multi-faceted approach to defense procurement. U.S.-based production will help Jerusalem and would be a win for Washington as well.

Missile defense manufacturing facilities in the United States can provide additional production capacity and help ensure continued production of vital systems should a factory in Israel be damaged, as was the case when an Iranian strike reportedly destroyed an Israeli defense manufacturing facility on April 4. For Americans, production facilities in the United States employ workers, spur the economy, and strengthen the U.S. industrial base.  

Arrow is a complex system and ramping up production of interceptors will take time. To help fill the gap and alleviate the stress on the Arrow against missile attacks, the IDF may need to utilize its less expensive lower tier interceptors such as David’s Sling and Iron Dome when possible. While significantly less effective at intercepting medium-range ballistic missiles than Arrow, these systems can sometimes be used as a stopgap measure until additional Arrow interceptor production comes online. The United States and Israel should also explore additional research and development cooperation to identify ways to expand the ballistic missile interception capabilities of existing systems.

Justin Leopold-Cohen is a senior research analyst at the Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Ryan Brobst is the deputy director and Bradley Bowman is the senior director. For more analysis from Justin, Ryan, Brad, and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Justin on X at @jleopoldcohen,  Ryan @RyanBrobst_, and Brad @Brad_L_Bowman. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.