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Mahesh

15/10/23 09:20 AM IST

Israel’s missile defence shield

In News
  • Around 2,200 rockets were fired towards southern and central Israel, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
  • Many of them were shot down by ‘Iron Dome’ defensive shield, while some landed in populated areas.
Iron Dome
  • Iron Dome is a short-range anti-rocket, anti-mortar, and anti-artillery system with an intercept range of 2.5 to 43 miles and was developed by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems of Israel, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS).
  • Israel has at least 10 Iron Dome batteries deployed throughout the country, each designed to defend a 60-square-mile populated area and can be moved as threats change.
  • Iron Dome’s targeting system and radar first track the trajectory of incoming projectiles and are designed to fire its Tamir interceptors only at those which are likely to land in populated areas or important areas/targets.
  • In the past, Israel has put Iron Dome’s interception rate at as high as 97%.
  • The system was developed by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defence Systems with the backing of the United States in order to counter rockets fired by the terror group Hezbollah from Lebanon during the 2006 war and by Palestine's Hamas.
  • The air-defence system became operational in 2011.
  • Another air-defence system by the Israeli military is Arrow-3, which was designed to intercept and counter ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere of the earth.
  • In 2017, Israel also developed a naval version of the Iron Dome system in order to protect ships and other sea-based assets.
Working of Iron Dome
  • Iron Dome consists of truck-towed units, each of which fires radar-guided missiles to counter short-range threats including rockets, mortars and drones while they are mid-air.
  • The all-weather system does not shoot down all the rockets on Israel's radar.
  • It uses an Artificial Intelligence based mechanism to first determine whether an incoming rocket is an interpreted threat and will hit a populated area, if not the Iron Dome ignores the rocket and lets it enter Israel's air space.
  • Iron Dome originally had a range between 4 and 70 km, in order to provide city-sized coverage, however, it has been said to have expanded.
  • The cost to launch an Iron Dome interceptor ranges between $50,000 and $100,000.
Israel Defence Network
  • Israel has a four-layered air defence network to tackle a range of projectiles, short-range mortars, rockets and long-range ballistic missiles.
  • These comprise of the Iron Dome (short range), David’s Sling (low to mid-range), Arrow II (upper-atmospheric), and Arrow III (exo-atmospheric).
  • In addition to these existing systems, Israel, the U.S. Missile Defence Agency (MDA), and various private defence contractors are working on next generation defence systems, such as Arrow IV90 and various ground and air-based laser systems, including Iron Beam,”.
  • To date, the U.S. has provided nearly $3 billion to Israel for Iron Dome batteries, interceptors, co-production costs, and general maintenance, according to the CRS.
  • The U.S. began financially supporting Israel’s development of Iron Dome in 2011.
  • A co-production agreement signed between Israel and the U.S. in March 2014 enables manufacture of Iron Dome components in the U.S. Under a joint venture ‘Raytheon Rafael Area Protection Systems’, set up in 2020 between Rafael and Raytheon of the U.S., Tamir interceptors (the U.S. version is called SkyHunter) are manufactured at Raytheon’s facility in Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere, and then assembled in Israel.
  • Israel also maintains the ability to manufacture Tamir interceptors within Israel.
Source- The Hindu

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