The Iron Dome: How does Israel’s missile defence system work?

Aisling Ní Chúláin

On October 7, Hamas militants launched a barrage of rockets from the blockaded Gaza Strip towards Israel as part of a surprise attack that has reignited the Israeli-Palestinian con ict.

Israel's Iron Dome air defence system res to intercept a rocket red from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.

Key to repelling rockets on the Israeli side is the Iron Dome, a missile defence system that has become a cornerstone of the country’s security since its initial deployment in 2011.

In the months since the Hamas attack and Israel's retaliatory military ground o ensive, the Iron Dome has once again been tested with an attack by Iran on

Saturday and Sunday and 14).

Around 300 drones, ballistic and cruise missiles were launched by Tehran following a suspected Israeli strike on a Iranian consulate in Syria. Most of these were intercepted by the Iron Dome.

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So how exactly does the Iron Dome work?

Developed by state-owned Israeli defence company, Rafael, it has proved to be particularly e ective over the years. Israeli authorities have claimed that the military technology boasts a 90 per cent success rate at intercepting enemy rockets.

Each Iron Dome battery, of which there are believed to be at least 10 in operation on Israeli territory, has three components. The rst is a radar that detects incoming rockets. Then there is the Tamir interceptor missile that is launched to intercept the incoming rocket in the air.

Finally, there is a command and control centre which contains the software that creates and sends the message from the radar to the interceptor missile.

The system is designed to intercept rockets with a range of between 4 km and 70 km.

How e ective is the Iron Dome?

Despite the 90 per cent success rate o ered by Israeli military of cials, Jean-Loup Samaan, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Singapore’s Middle-East Institute, describes the issue of the Iron Dome’s e ectiveness as "very contentious".

“The reason for that is at the end of the day, we have to rely on estimates and data, which is the data of the Israeli government,” he explained to Euronews Next.

"So far, what the Israeli government has said is that the effectiveness of Iron Dome is pretty high. They've been talking about a 90 per cent interception rate. The question is rst, what does that interception rate exactly mean?" he added.

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Samaan points out that the Iron Dome only intercepts or destroys rockets which are considered to threaten civilian urban areas.

"If you have a rocket that is sent from Gaza to an unpopulated area in Israel, Iron Dome will not be activated. So it's hard to say exactly what is behind the 90 per cent e ectiveness rate," he said.

The other issue related to the e ectiveness of the Iron Dome is that Samaan contends the system has not deterred Hamas or other Palestinian militant groups from launching rocket attacks targeting Israeli territory.

"On Saturday, 7 October, Hamas red more rockets, basically, than during the last ten days of the con ict between Hamas and Israel in 2021," Samaan said.

"So it tells us that Iron Dome, yes, may be e ective operationally, but strategically it doesn't really deter the Palestinian organisations," he added.

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How is the Iron Dome - nanced?

Keeping the Iron Dome operational comes at a high price. According to Samaan, just one of the interceptor Tamir missiles is estimated to cost around $50,000 (€47,251).

Originally Iron Dome funding was undertaken by Israel, but because of the high cost of the system, the country has had to rely on its long-time ally, the United States.

A report from the US Congressional Research Service states that the US has contributed nearly $3 billion (€2.8 billion) to Iron Dome batteries, interceptors, coproduction costs, and general maintenance.

"Starting in 2016, the US and Israel considered that support to Israel's missile defence and in particular to the development and production of Iron Dome was a central part of the bilateral relationship," Samaan explained.

"The idea was that Israel was able to nd a technology that can protect its territory, but nancially