(National Interest) Sebastien Roblin - The U.S. Army plans to request funding from Congress to procure two advanced Iron Dome air-defense batteries from the Israeli firm Rafael. Since 2011, the Israel Defense Forces have used the Iron Dome to shoot down over 1,700 rockets and mortar shells launched by militants in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza against Israeli communities. Though initially a purely Israeli defense project, in 2011 Washington began providing funding in exchange for access to Iron Dome technology. 70% of the components in its Tamir interceptor missiles are built by Raytheon in the U.S. In 2014, Gaza militants launched 4,600 rockets and mortar shells at Israel, 1/4 of which were projected to land near areas populated by Israeli civilians. Iron Dome downed 735 and failed to intercept around 70, consistent with a 90% success rate. Palestinian rockets killed five Israelis and one Thai civilian and injured 80. Additionally, nearly 300 militant rockets landed short inside Gaza, killing 13 Palestinian civilians, most of them children.
2019-02-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive