The US Army has decided not to buy Israel’s Iron Dome to counter aerial threats after after the United States military nevertheless successfully carried out a first live-fire test of the missile defense system, according to a report in Defense News.
According to the report, the US Army chose Leidos-owned Dynetics’ launcher after a shoot-off between the two systems last month at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
The Dynetics system, called Enduring Shield, has 360-degree detection and can fire at multiple threats simultaneously. The system is simple to operate and can be fully integrated with the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System.
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Israel’s Defense Ministry and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems told The Jerusalem Post that they would not be commenting on the Defense News report but if confirmed, it is expected to be a significant setback for the ministry.
Streaks of light are seen as Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel May 10, 2021 (credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)According to a report in Calcalist, though, the average price of an Iron Dome system is around NIS 27 million ($8,400,000). IAI said that each system is customized according to need and it therefore does not have a fixed price.
Israel Aerospace Industries, which manufactures the radars for Iron Dome, made a record of $4.2 billion in 2020 in international sales from the multi-mission radar. Some 150 MMR radars, the brains of the system, have been sold to customers around the world, Calcalist said.
The US Army purchased the two off-the-shelf batteries from Rafael in August 2019, that were delivered in late 2020. The army has since been in the process of examining and building training systems for the batteries.
The purchase was made to fill a short-term need for an Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) until a permanent solution could be put in place to best protect ground maneuvering troops against an increasingly wide range of aerial threats, including short-range projectiles.
The purchase of those batteries included 12 launchers, two sensors, two battle management centers and 240 interceptors.
According to a report in Haaretz in January, Israeli defense sources said that Washington would be deploying the systems at American military bases in the Gulf to defend its forces from attacks by Iran or its proxies.
The prime contractor for the development and production of Iron Dome is Rafael Advanced Systems. The MMR radar is developed by ELTA, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and the command and control system (BMC) is developed by mPrest.
Interceptor missiles carry 10 kg. of explosives and can intercept an incoming projectile from four to 70 km. away. The system can calculate when rockets will land in open areas, choosing not to intercept them, or toward civilian centers.
In use since 2011, Iron Dome, which is designed to shoot down short-range rockets, is an integral component of Israel’s multi-layered defense array.
The Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 systems intercept ballistic missiles outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, while David’s Sling is designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles and medium- to long-range rockets, as well as cruise missiles fired from ranges of 40 km. to 300 km.
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