The Iron Dome

October 31, 2007

The moment a West Bank withdrawal is ordered, Palestinian attacks, including Kassam rockets, are expected immediately, and heavily populated areas will come under attack. Israel has been dealing with Palestinian militants firing Kassams at the northwestern Negev for the past five years.

The Iron Dome shield provides an early warning radar system to identify short-range missiles and rockets in flight. It travels much faster than the Kassam’s 300 meters (328 yards) per second and is designed to intercept at the highest possible altitude, for fear enemy rockets are equipped with a chemical or biological warhead. The target-detecting process is performed in less than one second. The Iron Dome is also equipped to detect if the invading missile will land in an open, uninhabited area, in which case, it will not fire an intercepting rocket.

This powerful system is to be used to protect Israel from Hizbullah attacks and Katyusha rockets from Syria. When the system confirms the launch of a missile, the Iron Dome tracks the speeding rocket through radar developed by Elta Systems, a group and subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries. Once the system locks on to the target, it launches a rocket to intercept the missile mid-flight.

A single Iron Dome launch costs from US $30,000 to US $40,000. In August, the Cabinet chose not to approve an extra NIS 5 billion (US $1.16 billion) for the defense budget. This may be a deadly setback for the Iron Dome. Military spokesmen suggest the project may be “slowed down,” not postponed.

By Ron Ross, BFP Israel Mosaic Radio

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