Gold said the Iron Dome benefits from a “robust design,” with system architecture that “can cope with future uncertainty,” if Hamas decides to launch more advanced weaponry at Israel, and that “changes will be fast.”

When Hamas launches a rocket salvo, a radar identifies each projectile once airborne, calculates its flight path, and marks those rockets 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. The Tamir’s cutting-edge on-board command and control system was developed by Imperest.

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.

Gold said that while the Iron Dome has now become a core component of Israel’s defense capabilities, when he came up with the idea, military and political leaders were hesitant to offer their support for its development.