ISRAEL SEEKING FASTER PRODUCTION OF IRON DOME BATTERIES:

Israel is seeking sped up production of Iron Dome batteries, Moshe Patel, Director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization, revealed this week. The statement comes as Hamas continues to produce thousands of rockets in Gaza, Hezbollah imports rockets and missiles from Iran and Syria, and as ISIS joins the list of threats to the Israeli home front. Patel said Israel is in talks with Iron Dome’s maker, Rafael, and co-producer, the USA defense company Raytheon, to see which company could increase production of Iron Dome batteries. "Our main activity is to add more Iron Dome batteries,” Patel said, "either in Rafael, or Raytheon, or both.” Iron Dome shot down some 1500 Gazan rockets fired at Israel since becoming operational. Recently, it held a trial in which interceptors shot down drones, Patel stated. The low cost of its interceptors make Iron Dome the air defense system of choice, he added. (J.Post)