What is Iron Dome, Israel’s now-questioned anti-missile system?

2023-10-08 21:52:23

There are doubts about how many rockets were fired from Hamas into Israel on Saturday morning, but both sides are talking about thousands. Hamas says there were about 7,000; Israeli authorities speak of about 3,000. In any case, what seems clear is that the Iron Dome, the renowned Israeli shield for this type of case, did not prevent the impact of many of those projectiles.

That operation, along with the unprecedented penetration of militiamen into Israeli territory, caused more than half a thousand victims. The Israeli response was immediate, and has already caused hundreds of Palestinian casualties.

The Iron Dome performed better in May 2021, when it intercepted 90% of the more than 1,500 rockets launched on that occasion by Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

The Iron Dome in action in Ashkelon. pic.twitter.com/WtT88WTkI5

— Diego Mintz (@TheGotzReport) May 10, 2021

But, How does this protection system, until now the pride of the Israeli army, work?

The Iron Dome detects and intercepts rockets launched by the ‘enemy’ from the source. It also calculates in thousandths of seconds where it will fall. If they calculate that the missile is going to fall in the desert, they let it explode, if they think it is going to enter an inhabited place, the dome send another missile to intercept it and detonate it in the air. They disintegrate it almost in the same place since it has been launched. The Iron Dome, a nod to the golden dome of the Rock of Jerusalem, It has functioned as the Israeli State’s defensive system since 2011. Its combat management and weapons control software detects and monitors the trajectory of rockets, Then the control system calculates the point of impact and orders the launch of Tamir rockets from the batteries that have three launchers for 20 missiles that intercept and destroy enemy artillery, explains ‘France 24’. It is a missile system designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery projectiles launched from a distance of 4 to 70 kilometers. The Iron Dome was inaugurated near the city of Beersheba, just over 100 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. The Israeli Government estimates that this air defense system has up to a 90 percent effective which makes it the flagship weapon of the Israeli navy.