Explained: Israel’s anti-missile Iron Dome system

The Palestanian militant group Hamas launched over 5,000 rockets to Israel on Saturday in the first way of attack, paving way for Israel to launch a retaliatory attack causing further devastation.

Saturday’s rocket attack on Israel has shone spot on Israel’s advanced defense system called the Iron Dome technology. During the attack, the system faced 5,000 rockets in 20 minutes (it was 3,000 rockets as per Israeli authorities). The Iron Dome was able to destroy many of the rockets, some still breached and hit the territory.

Even as the Hamas group managed to breach the system, in the past, the Israeli military has claimed it to be highly robust and sophisticated; in fact Israeli forces boasted over 95% of success rate in intercepting Gazan rockets fired into the Israeli territory in May. 

What is Iron Dome

Iron Dome was established in 2011, four years after the decision was made by Israel’s ministry of defense in 2007. In April 2011, the system made its first interception when it struck down a rocket fired from Gaza into Ashkelon city in Israel.

The Iron Dome system has three main components which includes a tracking radar, a battle management and weapon control system, and a missile firing unit. Additionally, it uses artificial intelligence to achieve missile interception.

Its sensitive radar detects an incoming rocket, along with predicting its trajectory and point of impact. It can assess attacks coming from up to 70 km and is designed to only respond to threats which target population centers. It has a control center that processes the information sent from the radar, which in turn is connected to a launcher which aims to destroy the incoming attack.  

This air defense system is made of 10 batteries and each has upto four missile launchers. Across Israel, there are 10 Iron Dome batters each having three to four launchers, as per reports. The missile interceptors are highly maneuverable, while the entire system is portable and requires very little time to set up.