What is the Iron Dome? Israel’s first line of defence from Hamas explained
Air raid sirens and smoke cover much of Israel today, and the Iron Dome system, one of the best air defence systems in the world, is again in action.
It is Israel’s first line of defence. The Iron Dome is a land-based shield that was built to keep the citizens of Israel safe from barrages of rockets deployed from the Gaza Strip by Iranian-backed terrorists Hamas. The system is capable of tackling missiles with ranges between 4 km to about 69 km.
Read the latest live update of the conflict here.
How does it work?
If the incoming rocket is directed towards a populated area or a strategic establishment, the launcher automatically fires a Tamir missile and the rocket is destroyed mid-air to neutralize the threat.
A single battery consists of three to four launchers, and Israel has 10, which is enough to cover 155 square kilometres in populated areas. The manufacturer of the Iron Dome system - Rafael Advanced Defence Systems - claims it has completed over 2,000 interceptions up until now.
During conflict with Hamas in 2012, Israel claimed 85 per cent of the 400 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip towards civilian and strategic areas were countered by the Iron Dome.
In 2014, 4,500 rockets were fired by Hamas over a few days. Over 800 were intercepted and around 735 were shot down, making for a success rate of 90 per cent.
What other defence systems are in place?
There are multi-tiered defence systems throughout the nation. One, called David’s Sling, or ‘Magic Wand’, is the secondary layer of protection. It is a complete air defence system and is used to combat ballistic missiles and medium-range rocket attacks.
The Arrow is the third layer of protection and is an anti-missile defence system used to combat long-range missile strikes.
The system has guarded Israel since 2011. During the 2006 Lebanon conflict, thousands of rockets were fired by Hezbollah and several northern areas including Haifa were attacked, killing many. This attack prompted Israel to develop its own air defence system.
Upgrade and 2021 attacks
In 2021, Israel said it had upgraded the system to cope with additional aerial threats, including successful interceptions of rocket and missile salvos as well as simultaneous interceptions of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles.
What happened this time?
The near-perfect air defence system found itself overpowered after a barrage of rockets from Hamas. Over 50,000 rockets were launched from Hamas in just 20 minutes, which completely overwhelmed the Iron Dome.
Rockets launched by Hamas are much cheaper than the Tamir missiles that are fired to intercept it.
Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst in defence strategy, says the limited amount of interceptor missiles was the problem.
“One way to defeat it is simply [to] overwhelm it. And that’s a weakness of any air defence system.”
He also said if the Iran-backed Hezbollah joins the fight, then Israel will be facing much larger bombardments with much more sophisticated missiles.
“If Hezbollah gets involved and Iran gets involved, then it’s a much larger conflict.
He said Israel can bring in more ballistic missile defence systems, but they are also limited in numbers.