Iron Dome intercepts targets, works with US systems in Army test

JERUSALEM — The U.S. Military has accomplished an interceptor take a look at of the Iron Dome air protection system, the second occasion of its type since two batteries had been equipped to the service on the finish of 2020.

The newly revealed take a look at at White Sands Missile Vary, New Mexico, which came about in mid-June, was carried out together with the Israel Missile Protection Group, in response to an announcement from the Israeli Protection Ministry. Moshe Patel, the director of the group, mentioned that throughout the take a look at, “the system intercepted all of the threats, whereas being interoperable with U.S. techniques.”

The ministry famous the take a look at “took a essential step towards fielding the primary of two Iron Dome Protection System-Military (IDDS-A) batteries.”

“As a part of the U.S. Military’s operational coaching, American troops operated the system, which functioned with optimum effectiveness in opposition to quite a lot of threats and intercepted targets from completely different ranges,” mentioned Pini Yungman, an govt vp and head of Rafael Superior Protection Programs’ air and missile protection unit. The Israeli firm helps manufacture Iron Dome.

Statements from the Protection Ministry and Rafael each famous that testing “prepares the system for U.S. operational forces’ use by guaranteeing it meets U.S. Military security requirements and that the system will successfully function throughout the U.S. AMD [air and missile defense] structure.”

In accordance with the statements, the U.S. Military plans to discipline the 2 Iron Dome Protection System-Military batteries as an interim cruise missile protection answer. The service has deployed one Iron Dome system to Guam because the fall of 2021.

“It’s essential to grasp that implementation for the U.S. is in regards to the capability to combine this technique into our air protection image,” mentioned Maj. Gen. Brian Gibson, director of the U.S. Military’s Air and Missile Protection Cross-Practical Group, mentioned following the take a look at. “We have to combine this into our U.S. structure, and to provide confidence to our regional commanders that we will combine this technique safely into what they’ve.”

Iron Dome is designed to be used at mounted and semi-fixed places to defend in opposition to “sub-sonic Cruise Missiles (CM), Teams 2 and three Unmanned Plane Programs (UAS), and rockets, artillery, and mortar threats,” the assertion added, referring to a system by which drones are categorized by weight.

The take a look at comes two weeks after the U.S. Marine Corps carried out a profitable take a look at of the Iron Dome’s Tamir missile on the identical vary.

Rafael within the early 2000s developed Iron Dome, which makes use of radar from Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary Elta Programs. Within the U.S., Rafael companions with Raytheon Applied sciences to supply the system.

“Future variants of the IFPC [Indirect Fire Protection Capability] program embody know-how insertions reminiscent of directed power,” the latest Israeli statements mentioned. The addition of directed-energy — or laser — know-how to the Iron Dome system was proven to U.S. President Joe Biden when he visited Israel.

Iron Dome has been energetic for greater than a decade with the Israel Protection Forces. It was initially used in opposition to short-range rocket threats from the Gaza Strip, however it has since acquired upgrades to confront quite a few kinds of rising threats. In Might 2021, it was publicly revealed to have intercepted a drone for the primary time throughout fight.

The Israel Missile Protection Group, a division of the Protection Ministry’s Directorate of Protection Analysis and Growth, leads the event of Israel’s multitiered air protection techniques, together with Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow. The U.S. Congress has supported all three techniques. The IMDO companions with the U.S. Missile Protection Company on techniques reminiscent of Arrow-4.