Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Israel Bolsters Iron Dome Missile Defense

Israel announced plans on Sunday to boost its Iron Dome missile interceptor system, citing successful tests of the largely U.S.-funded system conducted in light of what it called “a variety of unprecedented threats”.

A Defence Ministry statement said a fifth battery of the rockets used so far to fend off salvoes fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, would be added to the system “within a short time” following successful tests of an upgrade.

Tests were carried out on the system “to improve its performance and capabilities of the system against a variety of unprecedented threats,” the statement said.

It was not immediately clear exactly where the new unit would be deployed. A senior Israeli official suggested in a briefing to reporters in April there were thoughts of placing another battery in the greater Tel Aviv area.

Since early 2011, Israel has deployed several Iron Dome batteries in its southern region. The system uses small radar-guided missiles to blow up Katyusha-style rockets with ranges of between 5 km (3 miles) and 70 km (45 miles), and mortar bombs, in mid-air.

Israel has also developed a longer-range interceptor, called Arrow, to defend against possible missile strikes from Iran. Israel has not ruled out military action to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Tehran denies seeking such weaponry.

The U.S. Congress approved $205 million for Iron Dome in fiscal 2011. The units are estimated to cost about $50 million each.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.