Hamas Rockets Expose Flaws in Israel’s “Iron Dome” Air Defense System
Every system has its weaknesses, and it appears that Hamas fighters have identified the weaknesses of the "Iron Dome" and have exploited them quite effectively, thereby somewhat eroding the sense of "invinciblility" among the Israeli population and military.
(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — Considered among the most modern and highly capable defense systems, the “Iron Dome” is the primary air defense system for protecting Israel from rocket attacks by its “neighbors”.
The “Iron Dome” air defense system was developed by the Rafael Advanced Defense System and Israel Aerospace Industries.
It is an advanced air defense system consisting of 10 mobile batteries deployed throughout Israel.
Each battery includes a launcher system equipped with the guided missile “Tamir” and radar with the capability to detect targets up to 70 km away.
The radar of the “Iron Dome” air defense system calculates the rocket’s trajectory when it detects it and then launches the guided missile “Tamir” to intercept and destroy the target while it is still in the air.
This allows the rocket to be destroyed long before it reaches its target.
Every system has its weaknesses, and it seems that Hamas fighters have identified weaknesses in the “Iron Dome” and have exploited them effectively, to some extent undermining the sense of “invincibility”” among the Israeli population and military.
The “Iron Dome” defense system has had an excellent record since its introduction 12 years ago, with a success rate of intercepting rockets at around 90 percent.
However, in the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, the scale of rocket attacks by Hamas overwhelmed the “Iron Dome” defense system, leading to criticism from military analysts and the Israeli public.
On the first day of the Hamas attacks, Palestinian fighters launched approximately 5,000 rockets at several Israeli cities, something they had never done in previous conflicts.
This shocked the Israeli military. In the 2014 conflict, Hamas fired about 4,000 rockets at Israel, but that was over a period of 50 days, or roughly a dozen rockets on most days.
During the 50-day period, the most rockets they launched in a single day was 200.
With the low rate of rocket launches by Hamas, the “Iron Dome” air defense system was easily able to intercept the attacks and protect Israeli cities.
Launching hundreds or thousands of rockets in a short period is a new tactic used by Hamas and other Palestinian fighters in this conflict.
It aims to overwhelm the “Iron Dome” defense system with too many targets to handle, so that only 10 percent of the launched rockets are capable of causing damage to Israeli cities.
Launching many rockets in a short period is known as “saturation strikes,” as explained by defense observers.
Thousands of rockets from multiple angles succeeded in penetrating the air defense “umbrella” provided by the “Iron Dome.”
According to analyst John Erath from the Center for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control, the “Iron Dome” air defense system has limitations.
One limitation is its cost. Each guided “Tamir” missile costs tens of thousands of US dollars, and each launcher can only carry a few of these missiles.
The price of a single “Tamir” guided missile ranges from $40,000 to $50,000. Compared to the cost of Hamas rockets, the difference is significant.
Because of the high cost, the United States also shares in the development cost of the “Iron Dome” system, providing $3 billion for its development.
Currently, the United States has begun sending supplies of “Tamir” guided missiles from its stockpiles to Israel, which was running short of these missiles after several days of facing Hamas rocket attacks.
Another limitation is that the “Iron Dome” cannot handle all types of rockets, such as long-range ballistic missiles with larger and more powerful warheads. — DSA
DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA APPS
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