Photo: AP Photo/Ariel SchalitIsrael has the most advanced missile defense system in the world. However, it does not provide complete protection either
If there was no "Iron Dome" in Israel there would be far more victims, not only in the latest attack by Hamas, but also in the past.
It is one of the most advanced missile interception systems in the world, it literally hunts down enemy missiles and neutralizes them. In recent days, the sky above Israel has been torn by flashes followed by a dull explosion - each time it meant that one enemy missile was destroyed, that human lives were saved, writes the German "Spiegel".
Israelis have been living with rocket attacks from numerous enemies in the region for decades. To protect itself, Israel has developed several defense systems - against medium and long-range missiles it has systems David's Sling i arrow 3.
The most common, however, are short-range rocket attacks that fly very low. To defend against such missiles, they have several American Patriot systems and, above all, Iron Dome - "The Iron Dome".
"It's a very capable system," the think tank expert explains to SPIEGEL International Institute for Strategic Studies of London Douglas Berry. "Iron Turret" detects short-range missiles very early and reacts very quickly by firing defensive missiles.
But is the protection effective when thousands of rockets are fired simultaneously, as Hamas did on Saturday?
How the system works
Each battery of the "Iron Dome" system covers a territory of about 150 square kilometers. It was put into use for the first time in 2011, when it destroyed a rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip at the city of Ashkelon in the south of Israel. Since then, this system has intercepted thousands of enemy missiles.
The system consists of different, separate, mobile components, so that if it is hit by an enemy missile, it would not be completely destroyed. It has a radar that not only detects rockets, but also grenades and artillery shells. It is produced by the state defense industry Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Each "Iron Dome" battery has a magazine that holds 20 defense missiles. Radar data is processed in the command center. The only manual action is pressing a button that fires "interceptors" - interceptor missiles. Everything else is fully automated.
The question of costs
The problem with the vast majority of defensive missile systems is that the cost of an interceptor missile often exceeds the cost of an offensive enemy missile many times over, giving the attacker an advantage in the long run.
Hamas, for example, often uses simple Qassam rockets that it can hand-build itself. Building such a rocket without a navigation system costs less than $1.000. The Tamir missile used by Iron Dome, on the other hand, costs around $50.000.
In order not to shoot down cheap missiles with an expensive missile every time, the dome's radar system calculates the point of impact of an enemy missile. If it falls on an uninhabited area, the system misses it.
How to outsmart the Iron Dome
In addition to the fact that the "Iron Dome" system is fully automated, each of the at least 10 batteries in use in Israel can engage up to 6 targets simultaneously.
The only way to outwit this system is to fire a large number of missiles from different directions simultaneously. Hamas tried this for the first time in 2021, when more than 1.000 rockets were fired from Gaza at the same time, in order not to calculate the holes in the system. The calculation is simple: most of the missiles will be intercepted, but some will reach the target, writes "Spiegel".
The same tactics were used in the latest attack. Hamas claims that it fired 5.000 rockets at the same time on Saturday morning alone. There is no data on how many reached the goal.
The manufacturer of the "Dome" claims that the efficiency of the system is 90 percent, which many military experts consider excessive. In any case, when all Israeli systems are operational, 800 rockets can be fired simultaneously. Once fired, it takes several minutes for the cartridges to reload. This creates a hole for enemy missiles.
Regardless, when thousands of rockets are fired simultaneously, there is no complete defense - a certain number will reach the target. That this is so is confirmed by the images of destruction from Ashkelon or Tel Aviv.
JH/Spiegel
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