Understanding Israels' Iron Dome

Peace is something that is easy to take for granted when you don't have to think about it. But, imagine living in a place where at any moment, a rocket could crash through your kitchen window, or turn the backyard where your children play into a crater.

For millions of Israelis, this fear is a daily reality. Sustained terror campaigns by hostile groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah routinely pummel Israeli cities with rocket fire and mortars launched from the Gaza Strip. Lazily targeted at major population centers, these rockets are directed at whatever innocent people are unfortunate enough to be near the blast. Since 2005, more than 11,000 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel. That's more than three a day.

That's where the Iron Dome comes in. A high-tech defensive system, the Iron Dome is the overall name for a joined network of various anti-rocket and missile defenses that aim to knock incoming missiles out of the sky before they have the chance to hurt anybody. A mission it is accomplishing at an astounding success rate.

Those of us who remember the original Gulf War might be slightly confused by why this is such a technological triumphant. The American Patriot Missile system was touted to do much the same task during the last days of the Cold War and was trumpeted as a success during Operation Desert Storm. However, reports of the systems actual effectiveness were largely blown out of proportion as part of a propaganda effort to demoralize America's enemies at the time. Independent verification of its effectiveness placed individual Patriot missiles as having a less than 10% success rate. Not great odds when you're depending on something to save lives or deter a nuclear weapon. 

While the Iron Dome system was inspired by the Patriot, and even still uses some of its launchers in the system (albeit to target aircraft, an exponentially slower and larger target than a rocket or missile), the technology involved is light-years beyond what was capable in the late '80s and early '90s. Seeing its first field usage on April 7, 2011, the system successfully shot down a Grad rocket (a deadly munition originally of Soviet design adopted by Hamas) in the first true test of its real-world capabilities. Since then the system has proven itself again and again, shooting down over 1500 rockets since the start of its operations.

Technological advances are part of the Iron Domes success story, the other is necessity. While plenty of militaries and arms companies spend time thinking about rocket defense, for Israel, it is a reality that must be faced on a daily basis. They had to find a way to protect themselves from terror attacks, so they did. And as tensions in the area mount, Hamas searches for more sophisticated means of attack, and Iran steps up its rhetoric, so must Israel strengthen its defensive measures as well. 

David's Sling, an anti-ballistic missile designed to intercept in atmosphere and low-orbit rockets (like the kind that are attached to nuclear warheads) from further ranges (ideally outside of Israeli territory), is slated to be added to the system in the near future. The IDF is also bracing for a new form of terror on the horizon, drone attacks. As drone technology proliferates and becomes more affordable and available for terrorist groups such as Hamas, attacks using the technology are all but an inevitability. Iron Dome is being designed to respond to those threats as well. 

The Iron Dome isn't just a piece of fancy military hardware, it's a symbol of Israels' unique plight in the modern world. No other country on Earth has to defend itself from hostile actions as frequently and chronically as Israel. No other nation is so heavily criticized for defending itself against such brazen assaults as Israel that it has to limit its operations to a purely defensive posture.

The Iron Dome is an achievement. But we should be working towards a world where it is no longer needed.