by Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system – and a couple of US warships – destroyed many of the scores of ballistic missed fired by Iran on Tuesday.
According to the Israeli military, Iran fired about 180 missiles, forcing Israelis to rush to bomb shelters. A large number were shot down by Israeli and US interceptors. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Israel “effectively defeated this attack, thanks in part to help from the US and other allies.
The Pentagon said that two US destroyers in the region fired a dozen interceptors against the Iranian missiles.
It’s the latest successful test of the Iron Dome system, which has destroyed thousands of incoming missiles – most fired from the Gaza Strip – since becoming operational in 2011. The system was built by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. The US gave $1.6 billion to Israel to help in the development, and another $1 billion in 2022.
Iron Dome is designed to intercept short-range rockets and 155 mm artillery shells fired from up to 43 miles away. It consists of three major parts – a detection and tracking radar, a battle management and weapon control center and a missile firing unit. Parts of the Tamir interceptor missile are built by Raytheon in factories in Alabama and Arizona.
One scientist working on Iron Dome told an Israeli newspaper, “There are parts in the system forty times cheaper than the parts we buy normally. I can give you a scoop – it contains the world’s only missile components from Toys ‘R Us…One day I brought to work my son’s toy car. We passed it among us, and we saw that there were actually components suitable for us. More than that I can not tell.”
Israel claims a high success rate for Iron Dome. During the 2021 Israel-Palestine crisis, the system was said to have intercepted about 90 percent of the rockets fired from Gaza toward populated areas within Israel.
According to the Ministry of Defense, Iron Dome uses artificial intelligence to decide whether an incoming missile is a threat to civilians. If the system decides it isn’t, the missile is allowed to crash into earth.
Iron Dome is just one part of Israel’s Missile Defense Organization. Other parts include David’s Sling, which is designed to take out targets launched from ranges of 25 to 190 miles; and the Arrow family of ant-ballistic missiles, which was developed by Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries. The Arrow is designed to counter longer-range threats.
