Israel’s first missile, the Shafrir, did not perform as well as hoped during the 1967 Six-Day War, but the experience quickly led to improvements.

By Hezy Laing

Israel’s air-to-air missile story is really a story of necessity.

For decades, the Israeli Air Force has faced opponents with larger numbers of aircraft, making technological quality especially important.

That pressure pushed Israel to develop its own missiles, learn from every war, and steadily turn a modest domestic program into one of the world’s most respected air-to-air missile industries.

The story began in the early 1960s with the Shafrir, developed by Rafael and introduced into Israeli service in 1963.

The missile did not perform as well as Israel had hoped during the 1967 Six-Day War, but the experience quickly led to improvements.

The result was the Shafrir 2, which proved far more successful.

During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israeli fighters used the missile to shoot down dozens of enemy aircraft, giving Israel valuable confidence in its ability to develop weapons specifically for its own battlefield needs.

The lessons from those wars drove the development of the Python family.

Python 3, introduced in the 1970s, represented a major improvement and became an important export product. Later versions continued to improve a pilot’s chances in the fast-moving chaos of an air battle.

Python 5, introduced in the early 2000s, was another major leap.

It can attack targets from almost any direction around the fighter, giving pilots much more freedom during a close-range engagement.

The missile is used on Israeli F-15s, F-16s and F-35Is and has also become a successful export.

Israel developed another path with the Derby family, designed to give fighter pilots the ability to attack enemy aircraft from much farther away.

The latest I-Derby ER is reported by Rafael to have a range of up to 100 kilometers, although actual combat range depends on the situation.

Compared with the United States, China and Russia, Israel does not necessarily have the longest-range missiles.

America’s AIM-120, China’s PL-15 and Russia’s R-77 family all provide powerful long-range capabilities.

Israel’s particular advantage is the combination of its missiles with highly capable fighters, radar, electronic warfare and pilot displays.

After more than six decades of development, Israel has built an air-to-air missile arsenal that allows a relatively small air force to compete with much larger and better-equipped opponents.