by joshua askw  & Alexander Blazard
It’s published •update
Israel has one of the best air defense systems in the world.
After Israel attacked Iran overnight on Friday, killing Tehran’s top military commander and nuclear scientist, Iran fired more than 100 drones and missiles in Israel, but Israeli officials reported that all of the UAVs were successfully intercepted.
Israel’s air defense systems are multi-layered, but the highlight is the iron dome.
Using radar to detect and intercept short-range rockets, missiles and drones, the iron dome air defense system began to work in 2011.
It was long pushed out by Israeli defence authorities, but was finally launched the following year in response to the 2006 war that ended with Hamas controlling Gaza.
The system is made up of mobile units on a series of trucks scattered across the country in strategic locations. Once a threat is detected, the military will analyze people 24 hours a day at the Battle Management Center. They then decided which launchers to intercept.
Secondary missiles are fired to ensure that the threat is properly neutralized.
Israel says it has a success rate of over 90% and destroys projectiles from distances 4-70 km away. The response time is a few seconds.
Israel developed it with us. Washington donated $1.6 billion (1.5 billion euros) to create the system between 2011 and 2021, but the US Congress approved an additional $1 billion (940 million euros) in 2022.
In the early 1990s, Israel said that US defense officials at the time were destined to fail, but suggested the idea of developing a short-range anti-missile system.
One of the weaknesses of the iron dome system is its inability to protect more than 100-150 square kilometers, and it cannot limit the effectiveness of the large country.
Even Israel, a relatively small country, needs to move around the batteries in response to perceived risks of attack.
Israel exports the technology to several countries around the world, including the US, Romania, India and Azerbaijan.
Washington uses it to protect military bases overseas.
Israeli air defense is multi-layered
However, the iron dome is only formed in part of Israel’s air defense.
Israel uses arrows to intercept long-range missiles. This said Iran was released to the country on Saturday.
Arrows operating outside the atmosphere have recently been used to intercept long-range missiles launched by Houthi Molitants in Yemen.
It was once again developed with US support.
Israeli air defense also includes a mid-range missile, like the one passed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and David’s sling, designed to intercept medium-range missiles like the Patriot missile, the oldest element of the country’s defense.
The Patriots intercepted an SCUD missile, first used during the first Gulf War in 1991, fired by then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that each patriot’s battery costs around $1.1 billion (1 billion euros). This is estimated at $400 million (EUR 375 million) for the system and $690 million (EUR 647 million) for missiles – the cost of a single missile is estimated to be $41 million (EUR 3.8 million).
Patriots are now used to fire down aircraft, mainly drones. The Ukrainian army is using it for similar purposes against Russian invasions.
Israel is also developing a new system known as iron beams, which uses laser technology to intercept incoming threats.
It’s not working yet. However, it is scheduled to be rolled out in October.
Israeli officials say the system is a game changer because it is much cheaper to operate than existing systems.
Additional sources •AP
