In Ashkelon, a battery of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Photo: IDF.

JNS.org – The United Kingdom has signed a $104 million contract for the purchase of advanced missile defense technology used in Israel’s Iron Dome short-range missile defense system.

In purchasing the Sky Sabre system — which was produced by Iron Dome’s developer, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, and uses software created by the Israeli start-up mPrest — the UK is aiming to “boost our defense of the Falkland Islands,” according to a British Defense Ministry spokesman.

The decision to purchase the Israeli defense technology was made after France announced it had signed a deal to sell five refurbished Super Étendard fighter jets to Argentina. The South American country, which claims the Falkland Islands as its territory, employed the Étendard jets during the 1982 Falklands War, in which it failed to gain control of the British-held territory in the South Atlantic.

The Sky Sabre system will replace the British Rapier air defense system that is currently protecting the Falkland Islands when it goes out of service in 2020, the Daily Mail reported.