In 2006, another conflict between Allah and Israel ended with Islamists using new weapons: thousands of Iranian-made small unguided missiles. In front of them, Israel's advanced air defense systems turned out to be defenseless: low-flying small Arab missiles could not intercept them at all. These attacks led to massive destruction and loss of Jews.
Allah launches rockets
A year later, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it would create a separate missile defense system to protect against massively cheap weapons of the Arabs. It is known as Kipat Barzel or "Iron Dome". The United States gave the Jews $200 million for this.
In 2006, Allah and Hamas's raw rockets hindered Israel
In the heated debate in the U.S. Senate over whether or not to give money, there were those who argued that this system would save not only Jewish lives, but also Muslim lives. Because this will allow Israel to shoot down incoming missiles from populated cities in Palestine and Lebanon without retaliating. As you know, this turned out to be a lie.
What does the Iron Dome represent?
In 2011, the first Iron Dome batteries were put on combat duty in Israel, and the complete information was classified. It is assumed that today 10 companies are deployed throughout the state of Judea, with a total capacity of 800 interceptor missiles in one salvo.
The anti-aircraft company can be moved and transported by truck, and in a few hours it will be brought to combat readiness. The interceptor missile is lightweight, fast and maneuverable, 3 meters long and weighs 90 kilograms. The warhead is loaded with 12 kg of explosives and has a maximum flight range of 70 km.
How the Iron Dome anti-guidance system works
The Iron Dome air defense system is designed only to destroy low-flying Arab missiles and will be activated only when approaching the group indicates that it hits the target and causes damage. That is, if the Hamas rocket falls into the middle of nowhere, the anti-missile will not take off.
To do this, Israeli systems are equipped with a radar and computer-controlled unit for detecting missiles, which calculates where Palestinian warheads will hit and automatically decides whether to launch the Shield anti-missile missile. For those who watched from the ground, the explosion of the anti-missile felt like a loud bang in the sky, and a trail of smoke was clearly visible, burning at night, like a signal flare.
How effective is the Iron Dome?
The air defense system was first used against the Palestinians in 2011 and has since been activated as Hamas is saturated with Lebanese rockets and shelling of Israel has increased. I made improvements based on the results.
In 2012, Israel claimed that the Iron Dome battery intercepted 86 percent of Hamas rockets fired from Gaza, shooting down 431 of them. But in 2013, American military expert Theodore Postol said that in fact the new air defense system hit only 10% of targets, or even none at all.
On the left is the missile defense system of the Iron Dome. On the right is a Palestinian Hamas rocket. 8.10.23。
Back in 2021, the Israeli military said that the Iron Dome had shot down 90% of the 3,000 Palestinian rockets fired in the Gaza Strip. In response, the Palestinians improved their strategy by overloading the Iron Dome with so many missiles that it was impossible to shoot down all of them.
Palestinian rockets themselves have been developed; Hamas now has a long-range launch system that requires no human involvement, is initiated and guided by a laptop or computer, rather than a primitive human fuse in a photo. On October 7 this year, Hamas fired 5,000 rockets at once, some of which reached their targets.
Once installed by Hamas militants, the rocket magazine is activated remotely
The Iron Dome is an expensive system. Arab missiles cost between $500 and $1,000 each, while Israeli Tamir anti-missile missiles cost $40,000 each. Despite the fact that they are not fired against flying warheads that do not threaten people and cities, the cost is still enormous.
Thus, in the 12 years of the existence of the Jewish missile defense system, the United States has spent $1.5 billion on missiles and will now invest another $2 billion. Over the past 12 years, the United States has provided $2 billion in aid to all of Palestine. That's one and a half times less than the cost of building an Israeli Iron Dome, let alone supporting Israel's entire budget.