President Donald Trump he would sign an executive order to start building an “Iron Dome” air defense system for the United States. File
| Photo Credit: AP

President Donald Trump said Monday (January 27, 2025) he would sign an executive order to start building an “Iron Dome” air defense system for the United States, like the one that Israel has used to intercept thousands of rockets.

“We need to immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield, which will be able to protect Americans,” Mr. Trump told a Republican congressional retreat in Miami.

Mr. Trump said the system “will be made right here in the USA.”

Speaking on the day new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took office, Mr. Trump said it was one of four orders he would sign, along with one that would “get transgender ideology the hell out of our military.”

During the 2024 election campaign, Mr. Trump repeatedly promised to build a version of Israel’s Iron Dome system for the United States

But he ignored the fact that the system is designed for short-range threats, making it ill-suited to defending against intercontinental missiles that are the main danger to the United States.

Mr. Trump however again sung the praises of the Israeli system, which Israel has used to shoot down rockets fired by its regional foes Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon during the war sparked by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

“They knock down just about every one of them,” Mr. Trump said. “So I think the United States is entitled to that.”

Trump said Monday he would sign an executive order to start building an “Iron Dome” air defense system.

New Delhi:

Israel’s ‘Iron Beam’, designed to use high-power laser to down projectiles, will be operational within a year, according to reports. The laser defense system will complement the country’s Iron Dome and other defense systems, heralding in a “new era of warfare”, the Israeli defence ministry said.

Costing Israel over $500 million, the Iron Beam will engage and neutralise missiles, drones, rockets and mortars at a time the country is at war with the Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Iran. Retaliatory strikes between the three countries have caused widespread destruction, recently hitting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the coastal city of Caesarea.

Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, architect of Israel’s Iron Dome, and Elbit Systems, the Iron Beam can engage at the speed of light from a range of hundreds of meters to several kilometers. It has an unlimited magazine, almost zero cost per interception and causes minimal collateral damage.

Israel’s defence ministry said that the Iron Beam will shoot down the smaller projectiles, while larger targets like ballistic missiles will be tackled by the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors. The system will heat and destroy the target, including drones, which are small, light and have a low radar signature, making them tough targets for the Iron Dome, experts told CNN.

Further, the system will function at a fraction of the cost that goes into operating the Iron Dome. Tel Aviv think tank Institute for National Security Studies said each interceptor missile fired by the Iron Dome costs approximately $50,000.

The system, however, does not operate well in low visibility conditions, including inclement weather.

Meanwhile, the United States said it will deploy B-52 bombers, fighter jets, refueling aircraft and Navy destroyers to the Middle East, in a readjustment of military assets as the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group prepares to leave the region. The latest adjustment in US forces in the region follows direct exchanges of fire in October between Israel and Iran. 

Since late September Israel has been fighting a two-front war, against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and against Hamas, which triggered the Gaza war by attacking Israel on October 7 last year. Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed 43,259 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.

US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators have tried for months to broker a truce and hostages for prisoners exchange for Gaza.

Jerusalem:

Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system has intercepted thousands of rockets since it went into operation in 2011, providing the country with crucial cover during times of conflict.

It has been heavily relied upon to protect military and civilian sites from frequent barrages of rockets fired from Gaza and Lebanon in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Israel’s air defences were in operation on Tuesday night when Iran fired missiles at Israel in what it said was a response to Israel’s killing of Tehran-backed militant leaders.

Israel’s military chief Herzi Halevi said Tuesday that the Iranian barrage had been blunted partly by “a very strong aerial defence array”.

The system had also intercepted more than 200 drones and missiles launched by Iran on April 13.

Israel initially developed the Iron Dome alone after the 2006 Lebanon War and was later joined by the United States, which has provided its defence know-how and billions of dollars in financial support for the program.

The system has an interception rate of around 90 per cent, according to Israeli defence firm Rafael, which helped design it. 

Here’s how it works:

Three-part system

The Iron Dome is one part of Israel’s multi-tiered missile defence systems and is designed to intercept short-range rockets at a distance of up to 70 kilometres (43 miles). 

Each Iron Dome battery is made up of three main sections: a radar detection system, a computer to calculate the incoming rocket’s trajectory, and a launcher that fires interceptors if the rocket is deemed likely to hit a built-up or strategic area.

It sits alongside other missile defence systems like the Arrow, which counters ballistic missiles, and David’s Sling, for medium-range rocket or missile attacks.

How much does it cost?

Each Iron Dome interceptor costs $40,000 to $50,000 to produce, according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

The think tank estimated that a complete system, including the radar, computer and three to four launchers — each containing up to 20 interceptors — costs around $100 million to produce. 

Israel has 10 such systems in operation, according to Raytheon, which helps manufacture the Iron Dome. Other estimates have put the figure slightly higher. 

Bipartisan US support

The Iron Dome is one of the strategic pillars of the US-Israeli alliance that has been followed by successive Democratic and Republican administrations.

In August 2019 the US Army signed a contract to purchase two Iron Dome batteries to enhance its own short-range missile defence capabilities.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

File picture of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system firing interceptors at rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel.
| Photo Credit: AP

Since Israel activated the Iron Dome in 2011, the cutting-edge rocket-defence system has intercepted thousands of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. The system has given residents a sense of security, and Israelis can often be seen watching the projectiles flying through the skies and destroying their targets overhead.

But the current war with Hamas might be its stiffest challenge yet.

In just two weeks, Hamas has fired 7,000 rockets toward Israel, according to the Israeli military. That is more than any of the previous four wars fought between Israel and Hamas since the militant group seized power in Gaza in 2007.

On October 7 alone, the first day of fighting, Hamas launched at least 2,000 rockets, according to data from West Point. Lebanon’s Hezbollah has also fired hundreds of rockets along Israel’s northern front since the fighting began.

Most of the rockets have been intercepted. But some have managed to get through, killing at least 11 people and hitting buildings as far away as Tel Aviv, according to Israeli officials.

Accomplishments and limitations

The Iron Dome is a series of batteries that use radars to detect incoming short-range rockets and intercept them.

Each battery has three or four launchers, 20 missiles, and a radar, according to Raytheon, the U.S. defence giant that co-produces the system with Israel’s Rafael Defense Systems.

Once the radar detects a rocket, the system determines whether the rocket is headed toward a populated area.

If so, it launches a missile to intercept and destroy the rocket. If the system determines the rocket is headed to an open area or into the sea, it is allowed to land, thus conserving missiles. According to the military, all interceptions occur in Israeli airspace.

The military declined to comment on how many Iron Dome batteries are currently deployed. But as of 2021, Israel had 10 batteries scattered around the country, each able to defend a territory of 155 square kilometers, according to Raytheon.

It is roughly 90% effective, according to Rafael.

But it can get overwhelmed if a mass barrage of rockets is fired, allowing some to slip through. While it has performed well so far, the risk could be raised if Hezbollah enters the war. Hezbollah has an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles.

Each missile costs an estimated $40,000 to $50,000, according to the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank.

The U.S. has invested heavily in the system, helping with development costs and replenishing it during times of fighting.

President Joe Biden has said he will ask Congress for $14.3 billion in military aid for Israel. The majority of that would help with air and missile defense systems, according to the White House.

“We’re surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome,” Biden said.