Air strikes and rocket attacks are witnessed from both sides in the recent Israel-Palestine conflict.
Videos on social media showed rockets fired from Gaza being intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome air defence system; here is a look at the features of an Iron dome.
What is the Iron Dome?
It is a short-range, ground-to-air, air defence system.
It includes a radar and Tamir interceptor missiles that track and neutralise any rockets or missiles aimed at Israeli targets.
It is used for countering rockets, artillery & mortars (C-RAM or counter-RAM) as well as aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.
How does it work?
The Iron Dome has three main systems.
They work together to provide a shield over the area where it is deployed, handling multiple threats.
It has –
a detection and tracking radar to spot any incoming threats
a battle management and weapon control system (BMC)
a missile firing unit
The BMC basically liaises between the radar and the interceptor missile.
It is capable of being used in all weather conditions, including during the day and night.
Each battery, or the full unit, can cost over $50 million, and one interceptor Tamir missile costs around $80,000.
In contrast, a rocket can cost less than $1,000.
The system dispatches two Tamir missiles to intercept each rocket.
When was it first used?
The genesis of the Iron Dome goes back to the 2006 Israeli-Lebanon war, when the Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets into Israel.
The following year, Israel announced that its state-run Rafael Advance Systems would come up with a new air defence system to protect its cities and people.
It was developed with Israel Aerospace Industries.
The Iron Dome was deployed in 2011.
How does India compare with Israel in this regard?
Israel, along with the US and Russia, is the leader in this air defence system.
India is in the process of buying S-400 air defence systems from Russia for over $5 billion.
In this backdrop, the Iron Dome was one of the systems that was being spoken of.
Israel does have S-400, which also caters to the three threats (rockets, missiles and cruise missiles). But they have much longer range.
While India is continent-sized, Israel is smaller and has to deal with threats that are relatively close around it and hence the Iron dome.
At the moment, India has Akash short-range surface-to-air missiles, and Russian systems including Pechora.
India is also buying two National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System-II from the US.
