Two weeks after the announcement of their intention to buy Iron Dome Missile Defense Batteries, the US officially announced that it had purchased the Israeli system for the US Army.
The US Army informed the Ministry of Defense of its decision to purchase Iron Dome systems to be used for US forces deployed in Europe to fill its short-term needs for an Indirect Fire Protection Capability.
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Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Binyamin Netanyahu said: “A great achievement for Israel. This is another expression of the strengthening of our strong alliance with the United States 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 in defense and in an attack. I would not recommend our enemies to try us.”
The Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the Iron Dome system would be tested as a system for protecting deployed forces of the US military against a wide range of ballistic and air threats. The system will be tested in the long run as part of a range of possible responses by the US military to defense from air threats. On the other hand, the Americans said the ground forces would buy a limited number of batteries to find “short-term” needs. They also said that “a range of options for long-term solutions will be examined.”
Iron Dome is part of Israel’s multilayered defense system, based on four operational defense layers, along with the Magic Wand System, the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems. The announcement stated that Iron Dome has been operational in the IAF since 2011.
Rafael, Advanced Defense Systems, is the main contractor for development And system manufacturing. Elta, a division of IAI, is responsible for the development and production of the MMR radar.
Two weeks ago, Ynet reported that the US Army had asked the Congress to approve a $373 million budget for the purchase of two batteries of the interception system. Americans rarely purchase weapons systems from foreign countries, mainly for reasons of national security, but also because they already have a technological advantage over most countries. Israel is one of the few countries to sell to the US in recent decades quite a few technological systems.
According to reports on the American site “Inside Defense,” the US military wants to quickly buy the two batteries, which will be supplied by 2020, with 12 launchers, two radar systems, two battle management systems, and 240 interception missiles.
Unlike Israel, where the system is located within the borders of the state to protect its citizens from outside fire, the Americans intend to place the batteries to protect their soldiers stationed in sensitive locations around the world.
According to the US report, Iron Dome is significantly cheaper than American systems. For example, the system based on the use of the AMRAAM missiles costs $12 million per launcher and $800,000 per missile.
Iron Dome, on the other hand, will cost $1.37 million per launcher, $150,000 per missile, $4 million for the control system and $34.7 million to radar.
It should be noted that there are different versions of the components of the system, including the interceptors, and accordingly, the price range can also vary.
