Israel ready to give US ‘Iron Dome’ know-how

‘Co-production not an option right now’

WASHINGTON, Nov 30, (RTRS): Israel has agreed to give the United States the know-how needed to produce interceptors used by its vaunted Iron Dome rocket shield, but it is not interested in any proposed co-production yet, an Israeli official told Reuters on Thursday.

Using radar-guided interceptor missiles, the Iron Dome system shot down 421 of some 1,500 rockets launched from the Gaza Strip between Nov 14 and an Egyptian-brokered truce on Nov 21, according to the Israeli military.

The Iron Dome system is designed to engage only rockets headed for populated areas, often firing its Tamir interceptor in pairs.

Co-production is not an option “right now” because of a need for full-tilt output of the so-called Tamir interceptor for short-range rocket and mortar threats from Iranian-backed Hamas and Hezbollah militants in Gaza and southern Lebanon, said the Israeli official, who was not authorized to be named.

Israel fears that introducing a new supply line could interfere with its target for stockpiled missiles in case of renewed fighting, but it is open to reconsidering that eventually if the United States wishes to do so, the official said.

The United States has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to assist Israeli or joint US-Israeli missile defense programs such as Iron Dome and others known as Arrow and David’s Sling. Iron Dome was developed by Israel on its own.

The US assistance for building a tiered Israeli missile shield is in addition to a 10-year, $30 billion military aid package agreed to by former President George W. Bush in 2007.

The Pentagon has not shown great interest in acquiring Iron Dome technology. But it has been pushed to do so by the House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee. The committee called this year for the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency to “explore any opportunity to enter into coproduction,” in light of significant US funding of the system, even though the United States has no rights to the Israeli technology involved.

In its version of a defense policy bill passed on May 27, the House voted to authorize up to $680 million in additional funding for Iron Dome production from fiscal 2012 to 2015. If enacted, that would bring US funding since 2011 to nearly $900 million to help Israel buy more batteries.