He Israeli air defense system “iron dome“has intercepted thousands of rockets since its launch in 2011, offering a important protection in times of conflict.
It has been widely used for protect military and civilian sites of the frequent rocket fire coming from Gaza and of Lebanon within the framework of the current war between Israel and the Islamist movement Palestinian Hamas.
At first, Israel alone developed the “iron dome“after the war of Lebanon 2006but later USA joined the project, contributing his expertise in defense matter y billions of dollars of financial support.
The system has an interception rate of around 90%according to the company Israeli soldier Rafaelwho participated in its design.
This is its structure and operation:
– A three-part system –
The “iron dome” is one of the elements of the system of Israeli missile defense, which has several levels. It is designed for shoot down rockets with a scope of up to 70 kilometers.
Each battery in this “Iron Dome is composed of three main parts: a system of radar detectiona computer that calculates the trajectory of the incoming rocket, and a launcher that fires interceptors if the rocket is susceptible of impacting a built or strategic area.
In addition, Israel has other systems of missile defensesuch as the Arrow, which acts against ballistic missiles, and the David’s Sling system, whose objective is to counteract rocket or medium-range missile attacks.
– What does it cost? –
Each Iron Dome interceptor costs between 40 thousand and 50 thousand dollarsaccording to him Center for Strategic and International Studiesbased in Washington.
That institute calculates that manufacturing a complete systemwith the radar, the computer and three or four launchers -each of them, with up to 20 interceptors– It costs around 100 million dollars.
Israel has 10 such systemsaccording to the American aeronautics and defense group RTX, which is involved in the construction of the “iron dome“. According to other estimates, the figure could be slightly higher.
– Support from the United States –
The system “iron dome” is one of the main pillarsatheists of the American-Israeli alliance, and they have supported him successive administrations democrats and republicans.
In August 2019, the army USA signed a contract for the purchase of two batteries of “iron dome” to reinforce their own capabilities defense against short-range missiles.
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