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Hamas’ terrorist attack began on October 7 with rocket attacks. Thousands of bullets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. Some of them hit Israeli cities such as Ashkelon. Every day there are rocket alerts in Tel Aviv and other cities. But Israel has a high-tech protective shield: Iron Dome, which has intercepted the vast majority of Hamas’s rockets.

Ukraine would also like to build an ‘iron dome’ over its country to ward off Russian missiles. “Ukraine does not have an Iron Dome,” says Mauro Gilli of the Center for Security Services (CSS) at ETH Zurich. Parts of the Iron Dome technology would also be used in American air defense systems and therefore at least partly in Ukraine. When it came to the Iron Dome, Israeli engineers paid close attention to the country’s vulnerable location. Because Israel is repeatedly shelled at close range, not only from the Gaza Strip by Hamas, but also from Lebanon by Hezbollah.

Specialized in short-range missiles that are only in the air for a short time

Therefore, the Iron Dome specializes in firing missiles that fly at low altitude and are fired at close range. The high-tech defense system was first used eleven years ago during Operation Pillar of Defense. This started on November 14, 2012 and targeted Hamas facilities and members in the Gaza Strip. For a week, Israel carried out airstrikes with the Iron Dome fending off Hamas rockets. At that time, the Iron Dome had a hit rate of about 75 percent.

Since then, the protective shield has been continuously improved technically. However, the current destruction in several Israeli cities shows that the Iron Dome is efficient, but not one hundred percent tight. The manufacturer claims a hit rate of 90 percent. “The biggest problem right now is the… Hamas is sending thousands of rockets, and each Iron Dome interceptor battery can only fire a limited number of rockets. That is why some Hamas rockets inevitably pass through the defense shield,” Gilli said. The Iron Dome also reaches its capacity limits under such a large fire.

Iron Dome works with three components

The Iron Dome works with three components: First, a radar detects enemy missiles. Secondly, a C2 (Command & Control) command post evaluates the flight data of the missiles and calculates in fractions of a second whether the missiles can fall on cities and villages. If this is the case, in a third step, up to four missile launchers per unit fire interceptor missiles. These are Tamir interceptor missiles on a modular vertical missile launch system called the Vertical Launch Unit (VLU). This means that rockets and mortar shells can be neutralized up to a range of 70 kilometers.

“Israel has ten Iron Dome units in different parts of the country,” Gilli said. Each unit can attack six attacking missiles simultaneously. Because Hamas rockets are fired at close range from Gaza’s cities, the system must respond very quickly. «The radar uses the electromagnetic spectrum, which moves at the speed of light. So there is still time for the calculation and the launch. »

Because Israeli cities and towns are not the only ones under constant threat, the military has developed a little brother of the Iron Dome. The C-Dome short-range defense system protects facilities at sea. On the one hand, the Israeli oil platforms, which are already threatened by Hezbollah. On the other hand, the merchant ships must be protected from rocket fire. Tankers are repeatedly attacked, which is a major problem for Israel as 98 percent of imports come by sea. C-Dome is installed on ships, which poses a special challenge for the defense system due to its rocking motion.

Is the laser wonder weapon already being used?

The Iron Dome’s floating brother will be integrated as a further building block in Israel’s multi-stage missile and air defense system. The Iron Dome forms the basis, plus the laser-assisted Iron Beam, which is still in development. Apparently, this “miracle weapon” will be used even sooner than expected. This laser air defense system successfully shot down drones, missiles, mortars and anti-tank missiles in a first series of tests.

The weapon from the Israeli arms manufacturer Rafael is reminiscent of ‘Star Wars’. An Iron Beam camera focuses on the enemy missile. A 100-kilowatt laser then fires a laser beam at the flying object, which explodes when hit by the laser. Iron Beam was first introduced in 2014 and is now rumored to be ready to go. Iron Beam has low energy consumption, is easy to transport, can shoot multiple drones simultaneously and has virtually unlimited ammunition. However, the wonder weapon also has disadvantages, because it is sensitive to weather influences and has a relatively short range. Iron Beam is therefore mainly intended as a supplement to Iron Dome.

In addition to these short-range missile defense systems, Israel’s so-called David’s Sling system targets more distant missiles and is intended to neutralize medium-range missiles. The Arrow missile defense system is responsible for long-range ballistic missiles, for example from Iran. The air defense is supplemented by US Patriots, which are intended for shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and drones.