Iron Dome and the Next Anti-Missile Weapon

The Iron Dome automatically identifies and classifies threats seconds after launch, and is Israel’s main defense against terrorists’ rocket attacks.

These missiles have reached major cities and peripheral areas alike.

“Iron Dome is the closest system you have to real automation,” said Tal Mimran, manager of the International Law Forum of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A combination of sensors and countermeasures are meshed to predict the landing area of ordnance and decide if interception is necessary. If a threat’s estimated trajectory leads to uninhabited space, the system recommends its operators not waste ammunition.

The system was jointly developed by Israel and the United States, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. This purely defensive system has a 90% accuracy rate, according to the American Jewish Committee, a U.S.-based think tank.

“Ten Iron Dome batteries protect the citizens and infrastructure of Israel, with each battery comprising three to four stationary launchers, 20 Tamir missiles and a battlefield radar. Each of the batteries can defend up to nearly 60 square miles and are strategically placed around cities to intercept threats headed toward populated areas,” said Raytheon, one of the U.S. partners of this program, in a statement.

During the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, terrorists overwhelmed these defenses.

“Hamas fired several thousand missiles, and Israel had less than a thousand interceptors in the field ready to counter them,” according to Raytheon.

The company now proposes a new weapon to neutralize threats of this nature: directed-energy measures, including high-energy lasers and high-powered microwave weapons. These would not be limited by how many missiles can be fielded and could also have a role in “disabling adversary electronics and communications systems,” according to the Congressional Research Service.