Over the course of the past three days, Israel’s revolutionary Iron Dome missile defense system has intercepted nearly 90 percent of the rockets fired toward the nation’s populated areas, again and again eliminating the threat to some one million Israeli citizens living near the Gaza border.

Over the last 48 hours, the Iron Dome system has shot down more than 30 rockets aimed directly at Israeli cities, where men, women and children, upon hearing the “Code Red” early warning siren, have less than a minute to rush into bomb shelters or secured spaces. Israel deployed three Iron Dome batteries in the south to protect its inhabitants. However, sparsely populated areas are not protected by the Iron Dome defense system.



(Credit: YouTube footage)

The Iron Dome system is designed to intercept short-range rockets, like the Qassams, Grads and Katyusha rockets commonly used by Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as 155 mm artillery shells.


(Credit: Youtube footage)

There have been some 130 rockets into Israel since Friday. The bulk of rockets that were not intercepted struck open fields or empty areas, and due to the enormous cost of operating an Iron Dome battery, in these circumstances the system was not deployed.

The Iron Dome system was developed by Israel’s own Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. According to Rafael, “The Iron Dome radar detects and identifies the rocket or artillery shell launch and monitors its trajectory. Target data is transmitted to the Battle Management Weapon Control (BMC) for processing. The threat’s trajectory is quickly analyzed and the expected impact point is estimated.”

If the projectile is estimated to fall onto a populated area, the system fires a guided missile to intercept it. Each missile is fitted with its own radar and once the trajectory is set it guides itself toward the target. Once within passing distance, the interceptor detonates and takes down the targeted projectile along with it, in the air above a neutral area so as to avoid collateral damage.

Each missile is estimated to cost $50,000. Per battery, the cost is an estimated $45 million. Last year, the United States allocated $205 million to funding and helping Israel develop the system. Israel has said that it hopes to allocate an additional $1 billion in the future, and seeks to eventually have 10-15 batteries in operation.

The Iron Dome intercepted its first missile on April 7, 2011, taking down a Grad missile fired from Gaza. The operational range is 70 km for all weather conditions.