Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ stops rockets — and why Ukraine doesn’t have it, according to Karako
One of the ways in which Hamas first attacked Israel was by taking down communication towers with improvised explosives, and it subverted one of Israel’s strongest defenses: its Iron Dome.
The Iron Dome is a mobile air defense system designed to protect against short-range rockets. It was conceived in the early 2000s and became operational in 2011.
Tom Karako is the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“For rockets and artillery, for ballistic missiles, it’s pretty predictable. So if you see something traveling on a particular arc, you kind of know where it’s going to be going on the rest of its trajectory, you also know where it’s going to end up,” Karako told NPR.
The last piece of the system is activated if it’s calculated that the rocket will land on a populated area or place of strategic importance, and that the rocket will collide with it mid-air.
The project was spearheaded by RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems, a state-run defense firm that would spend the next five years finetuning the technology. The U.S. has invested nearly $3 billion into its launchers, interceptors and general production maintenance, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
More than 5,000 rockets have been launched into Israel since the attacks from Hamas began Saturday, according to the Israeli military, which says the Iron Dome successfully neutralized most of them.
Source: Here’s how Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ stops rockets — and why Ukraine doesn’t have it
The Up First Podcast: Providing Security Assistance to Israel’s Defense Systems during World War II. The Case for the Iron Dome, and Implications for Israel
“Their approach to acquisition has been not the most exquisite and most expensive interceptor, for the perfect interceptor rate — but rather, large quantities of interceptors that are lower cost and good enough to get after the threats.”
There is more US aid to come, with President Joe Biden saying on Tuesday that the federal government is fortifying Iron Dome.
The House introduced a bill this week that will allow for an additional 2 billion dollars to be spent on the Iron Dome.
The move would be “critical to increasing American security assistance for Israel’s missile defense system which is saving millions of innocent lives,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer.
The Ukrainian government has made a number of requests for Israeli-made defense systems — including the Iron Dome — since Russia first invaded in February, 2022.
“You can definitely help us protect our lives, the lives of Ukrainians, the lives of Ukrainian Jews, because everyone in Israel knows that your missile defense is the best,” President Zelenskyy told the Knesset.
There are other countries in Europe and the world that are interested in this for a variety of reasons, including its lower price, quicker availability and proven record.
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