Iron Dome (air defense system)

Weapons in Israel

Main article: Weapons in Israel

2024: How the Iron Dome air defense system works in Israel. Details

In March 2011, the first battery of the Iron Dome tactical missile defense system (ABM) took up combat duty in Israel. It is designed to combat Kassam, Grad and other similar shells. This complex system, created by the Israeli company Rafael, protects the country's cities from enemy fire. The Kommersant newspaper wrote about how this system works in July 2024.

The Iron Dome consists of three key components: a multipurpose radar station (radar), a fire control center and launchers, each armed with 20 Tamir interceptor missiles. The radar detects the target and determines the type of enemy projectile from the radio waves reflected from it. The type of target helps to clarify forecasts for movement, since each modification of the projectile has its own ballistic coefficient, which indicates its braking by air. Having detected the target, the radar measures the position of the projectile in space several times, which allows you to calculate coordinates, build a trajectory, as well as determine the velocity vector and its magnitude.

Then the fire control center comes into play. It forms the further trajectory of the target and predicts the future point of fall. This allows you to establish whether a strike on a settlement, airfield or other protected object, or the warhead of the shell will explode in the desert or sea, without causing harm. For the trajectory, the positions on it of the projectile at any time and the remaining flight time are known. Based on this information, the interception model is calculated.

At the next stage, the control center calculates the flight paths of the Tamir missiles passing through the future positions of the target. By choosing the most efficient and timely, he gives the command to launch two missiles from selected launchers in optimal sequence. Thus, there is an effective destruction of those shells that pose any threat.^[1]

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