Israel-Palestine Unrest: Here's How Israel’s Iron Dome Intercepts Rockets

The advanced air defence system including a radar and Tamir interceptor missiles can effectively track and neutralise any rockets or missiles aimed at Israeli targets.

Gaza: With the escalating violence between Arabs and Jews, the Israel president warned of a civil war on Wednesday as the nation witnessed shelling exchanges as Palestinian militants in Gaza ignited violence in Israel's streets.

Both sides have resorted to airstrikes and rocket attacks to express their agitation. The social media went abuzz with videos showing rockets fired from Gaza being intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome air defence system. The rockets in the video appeared to be hitting an invisible shield.

What is special about Iron Dome?

The advanced air defence system including radar and Tamir interceptor missiles is used to track and neutralise any rockets or missiles aimed at Israeli targets. The short-range, ground-to-air system is designed to counter rockets, artillery & mortars (C-RAM) as well as aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The origin of the Iron Dome dates back to the 2006 Israeli-Lebanon war when Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Next year, it was announced that the state-run Rafael Advance Systems would come up with a new air defence system to protect its cities and people. The system was developed with Israel Aerospace Industries.

The Iron Dome was deployed in 2011. While Rafael claims a success rate of over 90 per cent, with more than 2,000 interceptions, experts agree the success rate is over 80 per cent. As per the information on Rafael website, the system can “protect deployed and manoeuvring forces, as well as the Forward Operating Base (FOB) and urban areas, against a wide range of indirect and aerial threats”.

How does the system work?

There are three main systems that work together to provide a shield over the area where it is deployed, handling multiple threats. Aided with radar, the system can spot any incoming threats, battle management and weapon control system (BMC), and a missile-firing unit. The BMC basically liaises between the radar and the interceptor missile.

More importantly, the system is capable of being deployed in all weather conditions, and any time of the day. As per the special forces' websites, a single launcher can protect against a medium-size city. Iron Dome uses a unique interceptor with a special warhead that detonates the targets in the air within seconds. The system can handle multiple threats simultaneously and efficiently.