Israel Has A Long List Of Problems But Its New Missile Defense Isn't One Of Them

While the Israeli-Palestinian peace process takes a long, undue nap,?Israel?s military continues to refine the capacity of its all-weather?missile interceptor system, dubbed Iron Dome (Golden Dome was deemed?too ostentatious). Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the?network is comprised of forward deployed missile batteries, which work?in conjunction with a rapid response control center and radar tracker
to eliminate Qassam and Grad rockets, as well as artillery shells?fired from the Gaza Strip.

Rafael

Unlike the large scale missile shield that has been under development?by the U.S. and NATO, which requires a long list of regional?agreements in order to place interceptor missile batteries capable of?bringing down longer range missiles, Israel?s Iron Dome is?specifically designed to take care of the short range (up to 70km)?missiles that might be fired into populated areas in Israel. Also,?unlike higher technology systems, such as the now defunct U.S.-Israeli?Nautilus laser defense, Iron Dome relies on a combination of proven?and fairly conventional technology.

The relative predictability of launch sites, along with the?limitations of the missiles themselves (Qassam and Grad) no doubt play?a large part in the accuracy of the system, which by one estimation?successfully eliminated 90% of rockets as of March, 2012.??Of?course, that has not prevented militants from diversifying their?tactics, by concentrating on targets not currently serviced by Iron?Dome?s batteries, and by firing a larger volley of missiles all at?once. As such, the system has become a hotly sought after commodity by?regional Israeli governments, and the IDF has fast tracked both the?production of equipment, along with its operational deployment.

Nonetheless, the system already faces limitations, one of which is in?service regions that are in extreme proximity to launch sites, which?drastically reduces the amount of potential reaction time. ?Moreover,
Iron Dome has been criticized domestically for its high cost vs. the?comparatively cheap rockets lobbed by Hamas ? that?s somewhere in the?neighborhood of 50 times the cost of a low-tech Qassam rocket versus
the current interceptor missile, and the system generally fires two?per rocket.?As Israel?inevitably deploys more batteries, Hamas is sure to counter by?modifying its tactics, and seeking higher range, higher yield rocket?variants ? taking into account the developing situation in Egypt (the?Gaza/Egyptian border being a ?primary traffic point for weapons into?the territory) it?s easy to see how the situation could potentially?escalate.

Financially, the system will not be cheap to develop for a country the?size of Israel. ?Budget constrains in the U.S. ? as one might guess,?the primary donor nation ? has led Rafael to further refine the system?and operate with fewer total batteries (10 to 15); as of FY 2013, $680?million have been earmarked by the U.S. government to help fund the?system, on the condition that technology is shared. U.S. defense?contractor Raytheon is already working with Rafael to jointly market?and develop the system, as well.

As recently as this week, Iron Dome successfully intercepted a number?of rockets fired towards the vicinity of Ashkelon (some 120 were fired?from Gaza this week)?With the ebb and flow of tensions along the Gaza border, along with?political instability in Lebanon, expect to hear a lot more about Iron?Dome in the coming years.

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