Israeli Ministry of Defense has confirmed that the United States has received the second
battery of the Iron Dome air defense systems from Israel, in accordance with a deal signed
by the two countries.
The first battery was delivered back in September. Viewers may note that the US had signed a
deal in last year for the procurement of two Iron Dome batteries
Iron Dome will be deployed to defend important military assets like airbases against aerial
threats.
The systems delivered are specifically customized as per American requirements.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in a statement, “I am confident that the system will assist
the US Army in protecting American troops from ballistic and airborne threats as well
as from developing threats in the areas where US troops are deployed on various missions”
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why U.S military is procuring Israeli made Iron
Dome ? Leta gets started.
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Russia and China have invested a lot of effort in cruise missile technology and are at par
or even a step ahead in some aspect when compared to America in this field.
Cruise missile technology is also proliferating to many other countries too and is getting
cheaper and cheaper by the day. Even technological less advanced nations like
Iran are developing cruise missiles.
The US Army, as well as the Congress, is well aware of the threat from short as well as
long-range cruise missiles.
This has been underlined in the U.S. National Defense Strategy which was released on January
2018 by Pentagon.
Further in the annual defense policy bill for the 2019 Fiscal Year, Congress made it
a legal binding for the US Army to have two batteries of an Air Defense system dedicated
for protection against cruise missiles. These are to be made operational by 2020.
In the 1990s, Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, fired rockets into the northern part of Israel.
This established a need for a system which could counter this threat.
During the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the situation worsened. Hezbollah-fired approximately 4,000
rockets, mostly the short-range Katyusha. The main targets of these rockets were the
northern part of Israel including Haifa, the country's third-largest city.
The rocket onslaught resulted in deaths of 44 Israeli civilians. Not only this, approximately
250,000 Israeli citizens had to be evacuated and an estimated 1 million Israelis were confined
in or near bomb shelters during the assault.
In the period between 2000 and 2008, 8,000 projectiles were launched in the southern
part of Israel mainly by Hamas. It is estimated that 50% of these were rockets and the other
50% were mortar bombs.
The rockets were mostly Qassams launched by 122 mm Grad launchers from Gaza Strip. The
Qassam has a longer range than previous rockets and almost 1 million civilians were within
its range.
These increased Israel’s determination to find a solution to this security challenge.
In 2007, after a lot of evaluations, Israel’s Defense Minister Amir Peretz selected Iron
Dome for defense against short-range threats.
In 2011, Israel began operating the Iron Dome officially.
The Iron Dome Weapon System is the lowest layer of Israel's multi-layered air and missile
defense umbrella.
It is a mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems
and Israel Aerospace Industries.
It consists of 3 component - Radar, Battle Management Component, and Missile launcher.
The system uses the radar to detect incoming projectiles. The radar tracks the projectile
and sends information to the Battle Management Component.
The Battle Management Component examines where the incoming projectiles will hit and if
the area of impact is estimated to fall in its purview it commands the missile launcher
to fire interceptors to neutralize the target in mid-air.
Iron Dome has a first-of-its-kind multi-mission
launcher that is designed to fire a variety of interceptor missiles.
The interceptor is chosen depending on the threat.
Iron Dome’s Tamir interceptor missiles can strike down incoming threats launched from
ranges of 2.5 miles or 4 km to 44 miles or 70 km.
Tamir missile is equipped with electro-optical sensors and steering fins with proximity fuze
blast warheads.
Each Iron Dome battery includes three to four stationary launchers with 20 Tamir missiles
and a battlefield radar. A single battery can defend up to nearly 60
square miles.
Iron Dome is considered to be the most used missile defense system. Ten Iron Dome batteries
protect Israel. According to Israel, it has been used to intercept
more than 1,500 targets with a greater than 90% success rate since it was deployed in
2011. Though the data regarding success rate is
often challenged by critics, there is no doubt the system has seen extensive real-world usage.
For Israel, Iron Dome ’s main objective is to neutralize rockets and other artillery
rounds. But for US Army it will act primarily as a
defense against cruise missiles.
So there is an important tactical difference and U.S military has a plan to address this.
The two acquired batteries of Iron Dome will be operationally fielded and will be used
to identify how Iron Dome can be used as part of the U.S Army’s Indirect Fires Protection
Capability and American air defense architecture when compared to how it is currently being
by Israel for countering incoming rockets and missiles at short range.
Currently US Army’s primary air defense weapon is the Patriot surface-to-air missile
system. But Patriot interceptor cost around $2 million each.
This makes it hard to acquire in large numbers and if limited numbers are available then
the system could be easily overwhelmed.
This is where Iron Dome comes into the picture.
Tamir interceptor used by Iron Dome has a reported unit cost of $100,000 to $150,000.
This means a battery of Iron Dome consisting of 20 Tamir interceptor can be deployed for
the cost of about a single Patriot interceptor missile. This make it far more cost effective.
The fact is that Iron Dome has seen significant usage is actually a blessing.
It has seen several rounds of optimizations which is only possible when the system faces
real-life tests and chinks are identified. This is what makes the Iron Dome a unique
asset.
Another important aspect is that Iron Dome is readily available to America. Iron
Dome has received quite a bit of funding from US government and America's Raytheon
actually manufactures 70% of Tamir interceptor.
The fact that it has seen significant usage, is low cost and is immediately available makes
the Iron Dome a perfect solution for US’s Army needs.
According to The Times of Israel, Rafael announced that it was partnering with the American defense
contractor Raytheon to open an Iron Dome production line in the United States, a sign that further
US deals were in the offing.