Israel, after months of delays, deployed the first battery of its own missile defense system, called the Iron Dome. The system went on alert near the city of Beer Sheva in the south of the country. Currently, the Israeli army has two batteries of this missile defense system, the second of which is planned to be put on duty near the city of Ashdod. At the same time, according to the statement of the country's authorities, the "Iron Dome" is still far from perfect and will not be able to cover the entire territory of the state.
History of creation
The history of the creation of a new missile defense system, which received the resounding name "Iron Dome", began in 2007, when the Israeli Defense Ministry chose this version of the system from among 14 others that participated in the competition. In December 2007, Israel signed a contract with Rafael for the revision and subsequent production of this system. The deal was valued at 815 million shekels (about $ 230 million). According to the initial plans, the system was to be deployed at the beginning of 2011, but subsequently these terms were moved more than once.
By 2011, Israel had already spent about $ 800 million on the creation of its own missile defense system. This amount includes the cost of designing the system, making prototypes and training specialists. Last May, the US Department of Defense announced that it would provide Israel with $ 205 million to deploy the system. Israel has previously stated that it does not have enough funds for a large-scale deployment. If we talk about the financing of military programs in Israel, then some of them are directly funded by the United States. Annual aid from an overseas ally reaches $ 3 billion.
Officially, the development of the missile defense system came to an end in the summer of 2010, at the same time its final tests took place. During the tests, under the leadership of the country's Air Force, Rafael and the Department for the Development of Weapons and Technology, the Iron Dome complex proved to be excellent, not missing a single missile. The operation of the complex was checked using rockets from MLRS "Grad", "Katyusha" and unguided rockets Qassam used by Hamas militants.
According to the compiled terms of reference, the complex is capable of intercepting targets at a distance of 4 to 70 km. The complex receives information about the launch of the missile from a standard early warning radar and, after capturing it, sends the Tamir interceptor missile to intercept. The latter must destroy the enemy missile at the highest point of its trajectory. This method of interception is chosen in case the sent missile will carry a biological or chemical warhead.
It takes less than a second from the moment of target detection and launch to intercept the missile. According to the developers of the Rafael complex, the interceptor missile develops a speed several times higher than the speed of the Palestinian Qassam missile (300 m / s). one battery of the "Iron Dome" is able to cover an area of 150 square meters. km. from missiles launched within a radius of 15 km. The area to be defended will increase if enemy missiles are fired from a greater distance.
The battery of the complex includes a multipurpose radar EL / M-2084 developed by the Israeli firm Elta Systems, a fire control center and 3 launchers, each of which is equipped with 20 Tamir interceptor missiles. The Tamir missile is 3 meters long, 16 centimeters in diameter, weighs 90 kilograms and is equipped with a proximity warhead.
The Iron Dome complex is capable of determining the probable point of impact of the fired missile, and if it falls outside a residential area, the interceptor missile is not launched. This function is implemented for economic reasons, the cost of one Tamir missile is 40-200 times higher than the cost of Qassam and Grad missiles.
Leapfrog with terms
The shelling of Israeli settlements by militants from the Gaza Strip is, in fact, common. According to the Israeli special services, 571 rockets and mortar shells were fired through Israel in 2009, 99 in 2010, and 12 in January of this year. - 1030. In such conditions, the development of the "Iron Dome" went on at an accelerated pace.
According to the plans, the first battery was supposed to be on duty at the end of 2009, then this period was shifted to the end of 2010 and then was postponed from month to month. The country's Ministry of Defense explained the shift in the timing of a more thorough training of servicemen who were supposed to master the new system. The constant postponement of the commissioning date of the complex has given rise to many rumors. One of them said that this system is designed to protect military facilities, not peaceful cities. The reason for its occurrence was a number of reasons. The first of these was the appearance in the media of reports that the dome was not so iron. Allegedly, it takes 15 seconds to aim and launch an anti-missile, and not less than 1, as previously stated. At the same time, most of the Israeli settlements that are under fire are located in the immediate vicinity of the border and missiles fired at them reach them in less than 15 seconds. The official authorities did not confirm or deny this rumor.
At the end of December 2010, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote an article that there was some evidence that the Iron Dome was planned to be used to cover only military bases. According to the newspaper, the cost of one Tamir interceptor missile is approximately $ 14, 2 thousand, while the production of the simplest Grad missile is estimated at $ 1000, and the homemade Qassam is generally estimated at $ 200. Thus, the newspaper concluded that in In the event of more frequent attacks on Israel, this system will be economically unprofitable even if it does not intercept missiles falling outside populated areas. According to the plans of the country's Ministry of Defense, to cover the northern and southern regions of Israel, it was planned to deploy 20 Iron Dome batteries, which would require 1,200 interceptor missiles to equip them in full combat readiness.
The military estimated, which was announced in November 2010, that the production and deployment of this number of batteries will require almost 1 billion shekels (284 million US dollars). Most of this amount Israel should receive from its overseas partner. Meanwhile, rumors about the reassignment of the "Iron Dome" do not take into account one important detail. The use of the complex can be beneficial if it reduces payments to victims of hostile actions that have been operating in the country since 1970 and payments for compensation for material damage to property. Payments under these items sometimes go up to several million shekels.
Trumps up your sleeve
Israel deployed the first battery of the new missile defense system on March 27 near the city of Beer Sheva, located near the Palestinian Authority. In total, the Israeli Air Force has ordered 7 batteries of this complex so far, which should be deployed by 2013. The military has already received two batteries, it is expected that the second battery of the national missile defense system will be deployed near the city of Ashdod, located on the Mediterranean coast near the Gaza Strip. The choice of a place for installing this battery seems somewhat strange, since most of the missiles fired from the boundaries of the sector will not be able to reach here, the radius of the most commonly used Qassam missiles is only about 10 km. Only Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 missiles with a range of 80 km can reach Ashod.
Meanwhile, the Israeli authorities, along with the deployment of the system, note that for several more years, the "Iron Dome" will not be able to completely cover the territory of the country. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this system is still at an experimental stage and is unable to fully protect the country from missile strikes. It is not yet known when this experimental stage will be completed. It is only known that the "Iron Dome" system will be included in the multilayer missile defense system, which is being developed by Israel. The same system should include the Strela-2 and Strela-3 anti-ballistic missiles, as well as the David's Sling anti-missile systems.
The first flight tests of the Strela-3 complex are scheduled for this summer. At present, bench tests of this rocket are underway. According to the estimates of the Israeli company Strela-3 developer Israel Aerospace Industries, the third version of their anti-missile will be the most advanced in the world. The technical characteristics of the missile are kept secret, it is only known that it will receive a kinetic target destruction warhead. Previous versions of the Strela and Strela-2 missiles used a proximity warhead.
Strela-3 is designed to intercept ballistic missiles like the Iranian Shihab missile, Syrian Scud missiles or Lebanese Fatah-110 missiles with a range of 400 to 2000 km. In turn, the "David's Sling", also called the "Magic Wand", is planned to be used to intercept missiles with a range of 300 km. There is practically no information about this development either, it is only known that this missile will receive a dual homing head, which has an electro-optical sensor and a radar.
It is difficult to say when exactly Israel's multilayer missile defense system will be able to work in full force. However, the country is already ready to export some of its components. So India is discussing the possibility of acquiring the Strela-2 anti-ballistic missiles and the Iron Dome complexes.
