Last April the Israeli Army used for the first time a naval missile defense shield based on the ‘Iron Dome’ system to shoot down a drone launched from the Red Sea that was heading towards the port city of Eilat.
It is one of the most sophisticated anti-missile systems in the world, which has protected Israeli skies since 2011 from short-range rockets, aircraft and other missiles – launched from a distance of 4 to 70 kilometers – and which, in the last decade, has managed to neutralize more than 2,500 enemy projectileswith a success rate greater than 90%.
Israel’s anti-missile shield
The Iron Dome is not actually a shield, but rather it is a system that has ten batteries strategically placed in various parts of the country. Each battery consists of three or four launchers, 20 Tamir missiles and a battlefield radar.
How much does Israel’s missile shield cost?
But how much has this sophisticated protection system cost the Netanyahu Government? According to a military expert consulted by this newspaper, each Tami missile unit costs between 35,000 and 50,000 dollars. Furthermore, it must be taken into account that according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)a complete Iron Dome battery cost approximately $100 million to produce.
In fact, before the system came into operation, the Iron Dome was a military method that was highly criticized for its high operating cost, since the cost of manufacturing a Qassam rocket – the rocket used by the Palestinian forces – is some 800 dollarswhile manufacturing and launching a Tamir interceptor missile costs sixty times more than those of its enemies.
The high costsin the opinion of critics, would pose an economic problem for Israel if large numbers of enemy rockets were launched. However, the company that manufactured the Iron Dome, Rafael Advanced Defense Systemsdefends that this system is only aimed at intercepting those rockets that constitute a real threat.
