It is a missile system designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 to 70 kilometers away and whose trajectory would take them to a populated area. Iron Dome (Hebrew: כִּפַּת בַּרְזֶל, kipat barzel) also known as "Iron Cap"[7] is a mobile all-weather air defense system[6] developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.[5] It is a missile system
designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 to 70 kilometers away and whose trajectory would take them to a populated area.[8][9] Israel hopes to increase the range of Iron Dome's interceptions, from the current maximum of 70 km (45 miles) to 250 km and make it more versatile so that it could intercept rockets coming from two directions simultaneously.[10]
The system, created as a defensive countermeasure to the rocket threat against Israel's civilian population on its northern and southern borders, uses technology first employed in Rafael's SPYDER system. Iron Dome was declared operational and initially deployed on 27 March 2011 near Beersheba.[11] On 7 April 2011, the system successfully intercepted a Grad rocket launched from Gaza for the first time.[12] On 10 March 2012, The Jerusalem Post reported that the system shot down 90% of rockets launched from Gaza that would have landed in populated areas.[9] By November 2012, official statements indicated that it had intercepted 400+ rockets.[13][14] Based on this success, defense reporter Mark Thompson estimates that Iron Dome is the most effective and most tested missile shield in existence.[15]
The Iron Dome system is also effective against aircraft up to an altitude of 32,800 ft (10,000 m).[16]
