Israeli missile test in Peru goes all askew

The Peruvian army got a serious fright on Friday when an anti-tank missile test went horribly wrong and one of the missiles landed just 50 metres (165 feet) from watching officials. Congresswoman Mercedes Cabanillas was lightly hurt in the resulting chaos.

The army was testing one of the 244 Israeli manufactured Spike MR/LR, which have a range of between 2,500 and 4,000 metres, which it acquired last year and the press had been invited to the desert test zone of Cruz de Hueso about 45 kms south of Lima to watch.

The first test firing went off without a hitch, but the second one skewed off course and landed about 50 metres from watching officials including Defense Minister Rafael Rey, who was wearing combat gear for the occasion. The test was immediately called off.

General Otto Guibovich, the Peruvian Army Chief of Staff, said Rafael, the Israeli company which makes the missile, would supply a report within a week on what had happened. The test was being run by the company and not by the Peruvian army. Guibvoich told the national Peruvian news agency that the problem was “definitely” a technical one. “The company has promised us that it will give a full report on what happened because this is definitely a problem with the equipment,” he added. But he stressed that there was no question of cancelling the order.

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