Israel Examines Sea-Based U.S. Missile Defense

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Israel has been examining the prospect of a formal
request for a U.S.-origin sea-based missile defense system.
Officials said the Israeli Defense Ministry has been studying the
feasibility of procuring the Standard Missile-3 missile defense system,
produced by Raytheon. SM-3, deployed on U.S. Navy cruisers, has been
regarded as the most effective system to intercept enemy ballistic missiles.
"SM-3 could complement Israel's existing missile defense network and the
fact that its sea-based would enable the interception of ballistic missiles
in the initial stage of launch," an official said.