Israel’s Defense Ministry announced Wednesday the U.S. Army has purchased Iron Dome missile systems from Israel for an immediate need, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The agreement to purchase the system was reached as part of a deal between the Israeli Ministry of Defense and US Department of Defense to fulfill a short-term need for an Indirect Fire Protection Capability, the report said.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the deal, the Post reported, calling it a “great achievement for Israel.”
In a statement, Netanyahu said: ““This is yet another expression of the strengthening of our strong alliance with the US and an expression of Israel’s rising status in the world. Israel has an Iron Dome and an iron fist. Our systems know how to deal with any threat, both defensive and offensive. I would not recommend our enemies to try us,” the report said.
As news of the purchase broke, more information was made available including a report the US Army asked Congress for $373 million to purchase two batteries off-the-shelf from Rafael which included 12 launchers, two sensors, two battlement management centers and 240 interceptors. Washington wanted to have them delivered by 2020, the Post said.
In addition to the anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy short, medium, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase, the newspaper reported, the American military does not have any short-range air defense solutions.
Last year, the report said, the US Army saw an urgent need for an short-term solution to fill a gap in its defenses – especially in Europe – until a permanent solution was found to best protect ground maneuvering troops against an increasingly wide range of aerial threats, including short-range projectiles.
A number of tests were conducted using American-made components in focusing on the use of the Tamir interceptor and its ability to intercept a number of targets which were fired simultaneously at different ranges, the Post reported.
Last September, the report said, the US Army carried out a two-week long Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD) demonstration at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. As part of the test, the Army studied which missile system could be deployed quickly to best protect ground maneuvering targets against an increasingly wide range of aerial threats.
Iron Dome, going up against three other potential options during the SHORAD tests, including systems by Boeing and General Dynamics Land Systems’ specially-armed Stryker vehicles was the winner, the newspaper reported.
– WN.com, Jack Durschlag
Photo:
Creative Commons / Israel Defense Forces/Shay Vaknin
