All About 'Iron Dome', Israel's Air-Defence Shield At Work To Save Civilian Lives Amid Hamas Assault

The ‘Iron Dome’ was developed in a bid to counter the rockets fired by Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon conflict and also the Hamas from Palestine.

Palestinian groups respond by firing hundreds of rockets and mortar shells from Gaza to Israel as Israel continued its air strikes, in Gaza.

Source : Getty Images

New Delhi: As Israeli defence forces waged a counter-offensive, with its fighter jets pounding suspected Hamas targets in Gaza, the country fell back on its anti-projectile shield ‘Iron Dome’ to hold off the continued barrage of rockets from the enemy frontiers. The interceptor missiles, aimed at disabling the rockets before they make landfall, did its job in saving civilian lives as the Israeli forces went after the perpetrators of the heinous terror attacks, which has so far left more than 250 dead.

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What Is Iron Dome

The Iron Dome system is a ground-to-air short-range air defence system with 96 per cent success rate in intercepting rockets, according to news agency Reuters. It was developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries with the backing of United States. The defence system became operational in 2011.

The ‘Iron Dome’ was developed in a bid to counter the rockets fired by Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon conflict and also the Hamas from Palestine.

‘Iron Dome’, considered one of the most advanced defence systems in the world, is expensive to develop, but it is cost-effective, according to the manufacturers, because it uses a technology that can differentiate between the rockets that will hit the target and those that won’t, BBC reported.

How Does The Iron Dome Work

As soon as a rocket is fired, the Detection and Tracking radar senses its incoming trajectory and relays the information to the weapons control system. The control room, through its complex and swift calculations, detects the trajectory, speed and the expected target of the enemy rocket.

If the rocket is aimed at a populated area or a strategic location, the ground launcher automatically fires the interceptor missiles, which destroy the rockets mid-air.

According to Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, a single battery consists of 3-4 launchers and Israel has 10. The Israeli firm also stated that the Iron Dome has made over 2,000 interceptions so far.