Understanding Israel’s Iron Dome
The “Iron Dome Wedding” video has recently popularized the Iron Dome Defense System as used by Israel, specifically with the recent altercations in Gaza Strip. Currently one of the world’s most sensitive and delicate conflicts that the international community is riddled with, it is also a place of violent clashes which takes a heavy toll on the citizens on both sides of the issue. For Israel, the threat of Hamas and Hezbollah’s attack does not make the situation any easier. With the recent altercations in the region, Israel’s defense system was highlighted and popularized in social media by intercepting incoming missiles directed towards the mainland. Iron Dome Defense System goes exactly by its name when we see its success rate in terms of protecting it from deadly missile strikes. The reason why Iron Dome is popularized on a different scale is that it is a product of Israeli advanced technological development, which the international community understands is at a higher level. Especially when the conversation regarding technological developments is revolved around military advancements, it catches the eye of other states whether from a perspective of buying the focused technology and maintaining diplomatic ties to extract its benefits. This article analyses the benefits that Iron Dome provides Israel not only on the military front but also on diplomatic and strategic levels as well. The methodology will involve a historical study of its working and comparing with the advantages it has been able to provide for the mainland in its branding of nationalism and diplomacy in the region.
“Lessons from the Iron Dome in Military and Strategic Affairs, one of the system's important advantages is its ability to identify the anticipated point of impact of the threatening rocket, to calculate whether it will fall in a built-up area or not, and to decide on this basis whether or not to engage it.”- Yiftah S. Shapur, 2013, Lessons from the Iron Dome in Military and Strategic Affairs.
Introduction: -
The commencement of violence on 10th May 2021 in the ongoing Israel- Palestinian conflict took the world by surprise with the ferociousness of its violence and the damage caused in a short duration. The ceasefire between the two nation-states came about on 21st May 2021 and this violence is marked by increased protests and rioting, police riot control, rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad and Israeli airstrikes targeting the Gaza Strip. The recent crisis in memory of the conflict was triggered initially on 6th May when the protests began in East Jerusalem over the decision of the Supreme Court of Israel on the eviction of six Palestinian families in Shiekh Jarrah, and triggered Palestinian rage towards Israeli police forces, who then stormed the compound of al- Aqsa Mosque using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades[1]. By 16th May, Israel initiated its attack on the Gaza Strip and the UN estimating by 17th May, Israeli forces demolishing 94 building in Gaza. Considering this attack, Israel’s Iron Dome was seen around the international arena as one of the most effective technologies which allowed Israel to counter and virtually have no damage from the barrage of rockets fired towards the nation-state. More than 3,000 rockets have been fired by Hamas and Palestinian militant groups in the past week. International attention was drawn when 90% of the total airstrikes were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system which the Israeli military claimed while dealing with the airstrikes[2]. These analyses have also brought some critical remark that Iron Dome’s protection is false in terms of the attack it faced due to the type of missiles faced and that the forces are not outnumbered for the Israeli forces. On a large scale, the famous Iron Dome defense system is not as strong as Israel claims it to be. But despite the fact, Iron Dome is a brand for Israel’s advanced defense technological developments. But the real question that preserves our mind is that what makes the Iron Dome Defense System so unique for the Israeli defense system and does it factor in promoting the international figure as the nation-state tries to project?
Iron Dome’s operational mechanism: -
The current international recognition of the working of the Iron Dome was on 14th May 2021, when Iron Dome’s air-defense interceptor missiles streaked into the intense blue sky, making six rockets fired at Ashkelon by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas explode into faraway white puffs[3]. “Iron Dome Wedding” video in which the intercepted rockets seem like fireworks and Iron Dome batteries lit up the night sky over Tel Aviv, which countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Azerbaijan has also found it to be a reasonable interest[4]. The former head of Israel’s Mossad Intelligence service, Danny Yatom highlighted the working of Iron Dome by saying “What Hamas is doing now is trying to challenge the system. They thought that Iron Dome would stop functioning, but this didn’t happen”. Iron Dome’s success is a technological and strategic marvelous achievement that Israel has been able to achieve. Iron Dome is an effective, truck-towed, multi-mission mobile air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The system has been developed to counter very short-range rockets and artillery shell threats with ranges of up to 70 kilometers[5]. It can be operated in all weather conditions including fog, dust storm, low clouds, and rain. The all-weather air defense system protects the population and critical assets and can be strategically placed to reduce collateral damage[6]. What makes the Iron Dome special in terms of its operation is how the defense system accurately analyses and intercepts a range of incoming threats, which includes C- RAM, precise guided missiles, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and air-breathing threats[7]. Israel Defense Ministry’s achievement has been successful in defense against short-range missiles and rockets which can pose a considerable threat to the civilian population of Israel’s northern and southern border. For two decades, Israel has faced a missile and rocket threat. Hamas has consistently fired projectiles toward Israel since the early 2000s. In 2006, during the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah fired approximately 4,200 rockets into Israel, killing 53 and wounding hundreds more, damaging homes and businesses, and forcing from their homes approximately a quarter of a million residents in the country’s north[8]. In 2014, Hamas fired 3,300 projectiles into Israel’s south and center, even briefly shutting down Israel’s international airport[9]. In 2007, Israel made a strategic decision to address the problem which was proposed in the form of the Iron Dome Defense System. Four years later, a remarkable technological innovation was introduced to the battlefield: Iron Dome. In April 2011, the system intercepted its first short-range rocket and has since successfully intercepted more than 1,500 rockets[10]. And Iron Dome has only improved in its accuracy and capabilities over time, exceeding the expectations of the technologists who invented the system. The Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system continues to make headlines as it knocks Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad rockets out of the sky. The system is the crucial lower tier of Israel’s layered missile defense system, which guards Israel’s skies against threats near and far. David’s Sling system covers middle-layer threats, and the Arrow system defends against long-range projectiles[11]. Iron Dome was created to cope with mortars and rockets shot into Israel at relatively close range by militants in Gaza and by anti-Israel fighters in Lebanon belonging to Hezbollah. Between 2000 and 2008, more than 4,000 mortars and 4,000 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel[12]. As the range of the Qassam (near Gaza) has been expanded due to the introduction of Grad launchers, nearly one million southern Israelis came within the range. The system successfully determined and intercepted only incoming missile threats, while other missiles which were headed toward open fields were not intercepted. Raytheon collaborated with Rafael for the commercialization of the Iron Dome weapon system in the US in August 2011. Raytheon Rafael Area Protection Systems was formed as a new joint venture between Raytheon and Rafael in August 2020 to establish an Iron Dome production facility in the United States of America (USA). Its first interception was in April 2011 when it shot down a Grad rocket fired from Gaza into the Israeli city Askelon[13]. It has since intercepted more than 2,500 rockets. A sensitive radar detects an incoming round coming from 4 to 70 kilometers away and predicts its trajectory and point of impact[14]. A control center processes that information and connects to a launcher that shoots a missile to destroy the round. The system is designed to respond only to projectiles that pose threats, particularly to population centers. It holds fire on rockets calculated to land in empty terrain and thus conserves missiles, which is especially important in the case of massive incoming rounds. The cost of each missile is about USD 40,000 to USD 50,000, according to a researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. Each battery has three to four launchers and is designed to defend a 155-square-kilometre populated area and is designed to work effectively in all kinds of weather[15]. In November 2012, Israel installed the fifth Iron Dome battery at Gush Dan in response to the rocket attacks on the Tel Aviv area. The Iron Dome air defense system has been used to intercept and shoot down hundreds of rockets from Gaza as the latest round of escalations between Israel and Palestine in May 2021 engulfed the region. The missile system has day-and-night and all-weather capability, quick reaction time, and salvo interception capability[16]. It can also adapt to rapidly evolving threats and handle multiple threats at the same time.
Political and Diplomatic factors of Iron Dome: -
Israel has been forced to develop new and innovative defensive weapons to counter new and dangerous threats. This dynamic runs the risk of forcing Israel to constantly react, without pursuing a strategy for victory. Indeed, it was Iron Dome’s impressive performance on the battlefield that prompted Iran and its proxies to develop advanced weapons and fueled their ambition to develop precision-guided munitions. Israel has a distinct advantage: its technological superiority is unquestionable. This advantage stems not only from Israel’s independent capabilities but also from its technological and economic alliance with the USA. When Iron Dome was first conceived in 2005–2007 and activated in 2011, it was a prime example of Israel’s technological dominance[17]. The system was designed primarily to save human lives and increase Israel’s security against attack from Hamas and Hezbollah. The Iron Dome was also intended to protect military facilities and core national infrastructure and was created to afford Israel’s leadership the luxury of additional time to consider responses to rocket and missile threats[18]. On the offensive side, the system was designed to give Israeli war planners the ability to conduct operations with less fear of retaliation. The cost-benefit analysis of the Iron Dome has been the subject of significant debate. The cost of each interceptor is approximately USD 100,000[19]. Israel’s enemies and even some of the system’s detractors in Israel assert that while rockets are not claiming lives or destroying property, the cost of intercepting them is taking a devastating economic toll on Israel. But the cost pales in comparison to the cost of the damage wrought by an exploding rocket. Therefore, the overall cost of interception must be measured against the economic damage that was prevented. What the Iron Dome has been considerably able to prove is that it is a successful national brand as this brand contains Israel’s sense of national pride, resilience, and ability to function at an elite level on an international scale[20]. Since Israel does not operate on the exact governance and sociological parameters of the Western civilization, it conveys the worthiness of the citizens and Israeli society. Calibration of this perception and reality has established a strong projection of the state for Israeli citizens that the country can protect its citizens, abiding by the first and foremost importance of the social contract. Because Iron Dome was developed by Israel alone, initially the country retained proprietary technology rights for the system. The USA and Israel have had a decades-long partnership in the development and co-production of other missile defense systems (e.g., Arrow) and, as the USA began financially supporting Israel's development of Iron Dome in 2011, near to its activation, the USA’s interest in ultimately becoming a partner in its coproduction grew[21]. The Congress then called for Iron Dome technology sharing and co-production with the United States[22]. As the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013, the department of defense signified the importance of the need to obtain appropriate data rights to Iron Dome technology to duplicate the data received in the initial funding to ensure strengthening USA’s security purposes. This diplomatic approach is extended beyond the USA- Israel Iron Dome Procurement Agreement when we see countries like Singapore and Azerbaijan are also showing an increased interest in terms of buying the Iron Dome. In 2016, Azerbaijan’s Defense Industry Minister released the news that they had reached an agreement with Israel to purchase Iron Dome batteries in the first confirmed foreign sale of the system[23]. In 2017, Israel and India signed a series of agreements on defense and technology worth around USD 2 billion, including a deal to buy the "Iron Dome" system[24]. In May 2018, Romania signed a deal to purchase the Iron Dome system and a deal was signed with South Korea that it would develop its own Iron Dome-type C-RAM system[25]. Saudi Arabia and UAE are also establishing their approach towards Israel for the purchasing of its defense system and UAE’s progressive relations in 2020 are based on constant efforts to solidifying these defense purchases[26].
Conclusion: -
Iron Dome can potentially be overcome by swarms of many missiles that exceed its capability to intercept them, and by sheer numbers of attacking missiles during a campaign if not enough interceptors are available to counter them[27]. Also, the cost of each interception is high, while attacking rockets can be relatively inexpensive. Iron Dome is also significantly less effective against very short-distance saturation strikes. Hamas and Hezbollah are aware of these vulnerabilities. But this does not eliminate the idea about the fact that Israel has one of the most technologically advanced weapons defense system for which many nations are continuously pursuing establishing new strategic and diplomatic relations. The idea of the iron Dome has completed the objective of increasing Israel’s security against the rising attack and increasing the brand of Israel’s diplomatic prowess on an international scale. The pursue of the Western civilization towards technology removes any shadow of doubt of Israel being technologically and strategically ready to challenge the existing superpowers of global politics. The country is still engulfed in a crisis that continues to be one of the worst crises and governance that has been alleged on an international scale for its corrupt practices. Despite these governance differences, the state has proven the capability of manufacturing and have the patent of the most unique and powerful defense and strategically advanced weapons system.
Notes
[1] A.Pfeffer (24th May 2021). “The Costly Success of Israel’s Iron Dome”. The Atlantic.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Y.Serhan(24th May 2021). “A New World is Defining the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict in Washington” The Atantic.
[4] J. Kirby (14th May 2021). “Israel’s Iron Dome, explained by an expert”. Vox.
[5] Landau, Emily & Bermant, Azriel. (2014). “Iron Dome Protection: Missile Defense in Israel’s Security Concept”.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] M.Goodman(28th January 2021). “How to Shrink the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict”. The Atlantic.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Landau, Emily & Bermant, Azriel. (2014), ibid.
[11] K. Kaushik (25th May 2021). “Explained: How Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepts rockets.”. IndianExpress.
[12] J. Nagel & J. Schanzer (13th November 2019). “Assessing Israel’s Iron Dome Missile Defense System”. Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
[13] J. Kirby (14th May 2021), ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] J.M. Sharp (30th September 2014). “Israel’s Iron Dome Anti- Rocket System: U.S. Assistance and Coproduction”. CRS Reports & Analysis, CRS Insights.
[18] G. Ackerman & R.Tiron (21st May 2021). “What is Israel’s Iron Dome Anti- Rocket System”. The Wall Street Journal.
[19] Ibid.
[20] D. Peri (15th May 2021). “Explained: Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defence system”. The Hindu.
[21] H.Siddiqui(15th May 2021). “Israel’s Iron Dome: All you want to know about the famous air defence system”. Financial Express.
[22] V. Coates(30th May 2021). “Here’s how America can actually support Israel’s Iron Dome- opinion”. The Jerusalem Post.
[23] Y.Trofimov & F.Schwartz(16th May 2021). “As Hamas Rockets Rain on Israel, Iron Dome Proves it can Withstand the Barrages”. The Wall Street Journal.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Ibid.
[27] D.Nissenbaum & S.E.Rasmussen (20th May 2021). “With Iranian help, Hamas Builds ‘Made in Gaza’ Rockets and Drones to target Israel”. The Wall Street Journal.
Pic Courtesy-https://www.popularmechanics.com/
(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)
