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July 14, 2014 2:42 pm
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Israel Defense Companies Speed Up Iron Dome Delivery; 9th Battery Expected This Week

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avatar by Joshua Levitt

Prime Minister Netanyahu visits an Iron Dome battery. Photo: GPO.

The Israeli defense firms behind the Iron Dome missile defense system that has been swatting Hamas rockets from the skies over Israel have advanced production of the system to fight the onslaught of rockets from Gaza, delivering Israel’s eighth battery to Israel’s Air Force last week, four months ahead of schedule. The ninth battery will arrive in the coming days, a full nine months ahead of a planned March 2015 delivery date, according to Israel’sGlobes business daily, which said Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries have been working around the clock to assemble the equipment.

Globes also cited defense sector sources as saying that the eight and ninth systems are more advanced than their predecessors.

A special subcommittee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee has said that 13 systems are required to adequately protect all of Israel from incoming attacks. The 10th system – the last to be budgeted – is expected to be delivered next year.

Globes said NIS 4.5 billion ($1.3 billion) has been spent on the Iron Dome, with the cost split between the Israeli government and the U.S., which contributed $200 million in 2011 and $480 million of a pledged $680 million for 2012.

The batteries are connected to MRR radar systems developed by Elta Systems, an IAI subsidiary, which assembles them in Ashdod, the Israeli coastal city, along with Ashkelon and Sderot, closest to Gaza and that have received the brunt of Hamas’s rocket fire.

When Hamas launches a rocket, the radar identifies it when airborne, calculates its flight path, and marks those most likely to hit populated areas or strategic assets for destruction, firing a Tamir interceptor missile at the target. Each Tamir is estimated to cost between $50,000 and $100,000. Their cutting-edge on-board command and control system was developed by Imperest.

Globes cited Israel Missile Defense Organization director Yair Ramati as saying, “We entered Operation Protective Edge with a good number of interceptors.”

Ramati said that since Operation Pillar of Defense against Gaza two years ago, the “defensive capabilities against the threats and their ranges have been greatly improved; as the threats have increased, our interception capability has improved in tandem, since the radar connected to the system has successfully dealt with them.”

“Since the other side has improved his capabilities, while our interception rates have risen instead of falling, it can be assumed that we have handled the matter correctly,” he said. “We won’t achieve a 100 percent interception rate; that’s an impossible expectation. To be in the neighborhood of 90 percent, where we are now, is very good,” Ramati told Globes.

The Iron Dome is the first of several advanced systems to come online to protect Israelis from rocket attacks, according to a separate article by Globes.

Rafael is now building the first battery of the Magic Wand, also known as David’s Sling, developed in partnership with U.S. defense manufacturer Raytheon, which is designed to protect Israel against heavier missiles and rockets used by Hezbollah and Syria. The system has been successful in tests and is expected to be delivered in 2015.

The Arrow missile system is being developed to counter ballistic missile strikes against Israel, while the Arrow-3 system is being developed to intercept nuclear missiles in space.

Rafael has also been working on the Iron Beam, a system designed to use a laser beam to hit short-range mortar shells that could evade the Iron Dome.

The success of the Iron Dome has won plaudits for its inventors and Rafael. The Israeli government has allowed the company to demonstrate the system for potential sale to allied countries, with the goal of increasing production to create economies of scale that would benefit Israel and guarantee greater supply. But of all the potential buyers in the world, only South Korea is thought to be in a similar position as Israel, defending its border from North Korea, where such a massive risk of rocket fire would justify the expense to save civilian lives.

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