Israel attack: What is the Iron Dome anti-rocket system and how does it work?
Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system has intercepted thousands of rockets since it was built more than a decade ago. How exactly does it work?
Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Ashkelon in southern Israel on Oct 8, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Amir Cohen)
The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a brazen attack on Israel on Saturday (Oct 7), an assault that has killed more than 700 Israelis so far.
Fighters broke through highly fortified fences and attacked Israeli communities along the Gaza frontier.
Hamas also fired more than 3,000 rockets into Israel. The vast majority however caused little or no harm, largely because of Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system. It has an intercept rate of about 90 per cent, according to the Israeli military.
1. WHY WAS IRON DOME CREATED?
Iron Dome was created to cope with mortars and rockets shot into Israel at relatively close range by militants in Gaza and by anti-Israel fighters in Lebanon belonging to Hezbollah.
Its first interception was in April 2011 when it shot down a Grad rocket fired from Gaza into the Israeli city of Ashkelon. It has since intercepted thousands of rockets.
2. HOW DOES IT WORK?
A sensitive radar detects an incoming round coming from 4km to 70km away and predicts its trajectory and point of impact.
A control centre processes that information and connects to a launcher that shoots a missile to destroy the round.
The system is designed to respond only to projectiles that pose threats, particularly to population centres.
It holds fire on rockets calculated to land in empty terrain and thus conserves missiles, which is especially important in the case of massive incoming rounds.
The cost of each missile is about US$40,000 to US$50,000, according to a researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.
The batteries are mobile, and as of mid-2021, Israel had ten of them deployed throughout the country, according to US military contractor Raytheon Technologies, which in 2014 began co-producing Iron Dome with the system’s originator, Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Each battery has three to four launchers with the aim of defending a 155sqkm populated area, according to Raytheon. The system is designed to work effectively in all kinds of weather.
3. WHO FUNDED IT?
Iron Dome was originally developed without US assistance, but in 2011 Israel’s key ally began backing the programme financially.
Once the US invested in Iron Dome, Congress pressed for technology sharing and co-production, which is how Raytheon entered the picture.
It makes components for the interceptors. Today some of the anti-rocket missile battery is made in the US.
American support for the system is part of a larger package of US military aid to Israel, which according to an agreement between the two countries will total US$38 billion in the years 2019 to 2028.
4. WHAT ARE THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THE IRON DOME'S SUCCESS?
Iron Dome has saved many Israelis from death or injury. That, arguably, has various knock-on effects.
For one, it gives the Israeli government time and political space to decide when and how to respond to rocket attacks.
In some cases, it has meant Israel has opted against a ground invasion of Gaza.
Some analysts argue that the Iron Dome’s protection lulls Israelis into a false sense that they can afford to ignore the age-old conflict with the Palestinians rather than engage in diplomacy to resolve it.
