Here are some details about Iron Dome:
A unit of Israel's Iron Dome system. Photo: Wiki
The Iron Dome system was developed by Israel's state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, with US backing, to counter rocket fire from Lebanon during the 2006 war with Hezbollah and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas seized control of in 2007 and is partly held by the Islamic Jihad group (Jihad - the group fighting Israel). It has been operational since 2011.
Each unit, mounted on a truck, uses radar-guided missiles to destroy short-range threats such as rockets, mortars and drones in mid-air. Iron Dome is designed to complement Arrow-3, a system designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside the Earth's atmosphere.
Rafael said it delivered two Iron Dome batteries to the US Army in 2020. Ukraine is also looking to support the system, but Israel has so far only provided Kiev with humanitarian assistance and civil defense.
An Iron Dome version for the Israeli Navy to protect ships and assets at sea was deployed in 2017.
The system quickly determines whether a missile is on its way to hitting a populated area. If there is no threat, the missile is ignored. Iron Dome was originally advertised as providing city-wide coverage against missiles with ranges of 4 to 70 kilometers, but its range has since been significantly increased.
Israel’s interceptor systems cost from tens of thousands to millions of dollars. The country is currently developing an air defense system that uses lasers to neutralize enemy missiles and drones at an estimated cost of just $2 per intercept.
Quoc Thien (according to Reuters)
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