US Army Space and Missile Defense Commanding General Daniel Karbler told the Senate on Thursday that one of the two US Iron Dome batteries is ready to be deployed to Ukraine.
The statement was made during a session of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. Karbler responded to Sen. Angus King's question about the reason for Ukraine not receiving the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
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"We sent something like $3 billion to Israel to develop it… Wouldn't this be a very important resource for the Ukrainians since their principal problem right now is missile defense?" the senator asked.
Karbler responded by saying that the US currently has two Iron Dome batteries.
"One completed new equipment training, new equipment fielding. It is prepared for deployment. The other one is wrapping up its new equipment training right now. So the army does have one (Iron Dome battery) available for deployment if we get a request" from Ukraine, the general said.
The Iron Dome is funded by the US but is manufactured in Israel. Thus, even if the system gets delivered by the US to Ukraine, it is likely to originate in Israel, since the US presumably doesn't have its own manufacturing capacity. Israel has so far refused to hand over the system to Ukraine, in part because the system was not designed to handle long-range missiles like the ones that have been targeting Ukraine, although the real reason could be a concern over such a move's impact on Israe-Russia relations. Washington has contributed nearly $2.6 billion since the project was launched in 2011.
Video: The US Senate hearing on the Iron Dome
According to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb, the US is "not aware of an Iron Dome system being offered to Ukraine." These statements come as Kyiv on Monday criticized Israel for sending senior diplomats to Moscow and "having business as usual with the Russian war criminals."
Sources tell Israel Hayom Ukrainian soldiers have all but completed training on an Israeli early alert system that can predict a missile's trajectory, although it is unclear if this is related to a possible deployment of the interceptor. The sources refused to comment on the US general's comments but noted that Israel will not get into a fight with the US over the Iron Dome, and stressed that the general's comments did not specifically say that the system will be delivered to Ukraine.
i24NEWS contributed to this report
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