How Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system works

Iron Dome, Israel's missile defence system, has been deployed since 2011 to take out rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

On July 8, Iron Dome intercepted 23 rockets fired at Tel Aviv and other locations, particularly in southern Israel.

What is it?

Iron Dome is a missile defence system developed by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., an Israeli military contractor, in conjunction with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). It is designed to intercept incoming short-range rockets and destroy them in the air before they reach populated areas.

In 2007, then-Israeli defence minister Amir Peretz announced that Iron Dome was the governments choice for dealing with the threat from short-range missiles. Iron Dome was first deployed in March 2011 to thwart missiles being launched into Israel by Hamas militants in Gaza.

According to Israeli officials, Iron Dome has had a 90 per cent success rate in destroying Hamas rockets fired into populated areas.

There are a number of different Iron Dome installations. Most of them are located in southern Israeli towns such as Siderot and Ashdod, which are well within range of Hamass Grad rockets, although there is also an installation in the countrys commercial capital, Tel Aviv.

How does it work?

Iron Dome has three components: the detection and radar installation, battle management and weapons control (BMC), and the missile firing unit itself.

The radar system detects opposing missiles or artillery shells when they are launched.

The BMC is the brain of the system. It calculates the trajectory of the rocket and where it is expected to hit. The BMC is capable of tracking and firing at multiple targets simultaneously.

If an incoming rocket is headed to a low-risk area, like an empty field, Iron Dome will leave it alone. But if a rocket is on a path to a sensitive target, like a populated area, Iron Dome launches a Tamir missile thatcan intercept and destroy it.

The system also figures out the best placeto interceptthe incoming target along its trajectory, to try and avoid debris falling on populated areas.

Incoming targets travel extremely fast, and the trajectory calculations and decision to launch are done within seconds.

The Tamir interceptor missilescost about $40,000 US each, and can be fired day or night and in any type of weather.They are guided for the first part of their flight bythe radar system and BMC on the ground, whichkeeps them on course.

When the Tamir nears its target, the missile's own onboard radar takes over to take it as close as possible to the incoming rocket or shell.The warhead it carriesexplodes, destroying both the Tamir and the incoming target.

The Iron Dome installations can be moved by a truck if necessary, and typically have a radar unit controlling three launchers. Fullyloaded, each launcher contains20 missiles.

The launchers can be grouped together, or spread out to cover a larger area. Iron Dome installations are usually configured with acoverage radius of about 70 kilometres.