The Iron Dome is back in motion. It’s hellishly expensive. But effective. How does it work?

The Israeli military command said that Iran’s night air attack had been repelled. According to the command, Iran sent a total of over 300 drones and missiles over Israel. 99 percent of them were shot down. The army command emphasized that the armed forces are fully capable of operation. Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari called the Iranian attack very serious, adding that it leads to an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. Most of the missiles and drones were shot down by Iron Dome, Israel’s anti-missile system.

Iran attacked Israel. Iron Dome shot down missiles and drones. How it works?

The Iron Dome Concept ) was established in 2006, after a short conflict with Lebanon, as a result of which approximately 4,000 people fell to the territory of Israel. rockets. Another reason for creating the system was rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Work on its development was completed in 2011. The Israeli system intercepts and destroys rockets and artillery shells, as well as drones. It operates on an area of ​​approximately 150 square kilometers. It is able to autonomously detect many missiles at the same time.

The Iron Dome consists of two systems. David’s slingshot (English) and Arrow () are specialized in destroying medium and long-range missiles. The whole thing is, of course, equipped with radars. If they detect missiles likely to fall on populated areas, they fire missiles from batteries installed on the ground. These intercept and destroy the target.

Iron Dome isn’t perfect. It is very expensive

The declared effectiveness of the Iron Dome is not complete – it is approximately 90%. So Iron Dome has weaknesses. One way to break through the defense is a massive attack. But Israel is prepared for this too. After detecting launching enemy missiles by radar, computers in the battery command center quickly calculate their trajectory and approximately where they will fall. If this point is located in a built-up area, or close to some place where there may be people, the system qualifies this particular missile for interception. It allows others to fly without wasting time and precious anti-missiles.

Another disadvantage of the system is its costs. One Iron Dome rocket costs about 50,000. dollars. Missile defense is generally expensive, as the Russians are aware of, and according to Ukraine, DragonFire can shoot down drones with a beam of light, which is thousands of times cheaper than a missile. 10 seconds of laser emission costs approximately £10.

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries are responsible for developing the Iron Dome. The dome was built with military and financial cooperation with the USA.