Army to Buy Iron Dome Air Defense System to Protect Soldiers
By Debbie Gregory.
It’s the world’s most used missile defense system, intercepting more than 1,500 targets with a greater than 90 percent success rate since being fielded in 2011. Now the U.S. Army has announced its intent to buy a limited number of Iron Dome weapon systems from Israel to protect its soldiers on the battlefield.
Iron Dome is an effective, truck-towed mobile air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Rafael teamed with Raytheon on the production of Iron Dome’s Tamir interceptor missiles to engage incoming threats launched from up to 40 miles away. It can be operated in all weather conditions including fog, dust storm, low clouds and rain. It features a first-of-its-kind multi-mission launcher, which is designed to fire a variety of interceptor missiles, depending on the threat.
“It’s the world’s most used missile defense system, intercepting more than 1,500 targets with a greater than 90 percent success rate since being fielded in 2011,” according to Raytheon’s website.
Air and missile defense is one of the Army’s top modernization priorities in an effort to replace its Big Five weapons platforms — which include the Patriot air defense system — by 2028.
“The Iron Dome will be assessed and experimented as a system that is currently available to protect deployed U.S. military service members against a wide variety of indirect-fire threats and aerial threats,” said Col. Patrick Seiber, spokesman for Army Futures Command. “Protection of our soldiers is paramount; they deserve the tools needed to fight, win and return home safely,” Seiber added.
“While Iron Dome has been in operational use by the Israeli Air Force since 2011 and proven effective in combat, it should be noted that the U.S. Army will assess a variety of options for its long-term IFPC solution,” Seiber said in a statement.
Raytheon is working toward production of a U.S. version of Iron Dome called the “SkyHunter missile” that could someday defend forward-deployed American forces.
Veteran and Military Business Owners Association, VAMBOA,
