Israel's Iron Dome
interceptor has shot down some 90 percent of
Palestinian rockets it engaged during this week's
surge of Gaza fighting, up from the 85 percent
rate in the previous mini-war of 2012, Israeli and
U.S. officials said Thursday. Seven batteries of the system, made by the state-
owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd and
partly funded by Washington, have been rotated
around Israel to tackle unprecedented long-range
salvos by Hamas guerrillas. Rafael said it had been working on improvements
to Iron Dome, which is designed to fire guided
missiles at rockets that threaten to hit populated
areas while ignoring others. There have been few injuries and no fatalities
from rockets that hit towns or cities - results that
also reflect Israel's extensive investment in air raid
sirens and shelters. "We've been constantly fine-turning the
programming of the system, including during the
fighting. Our engineers are on the ground, with
the military crews, analyzing each interception
and making adjustments to get the best results,"
said a Rafael spokesman. Uzi Rubin, an Israeli missile expert, also credited
accrued experience in using the system which
was first deployed in 2011. "Iron Dome's successes are the result of a variety
of factors, including practice, and the rates could
get even better," Rubin said. But given the 10
percent failure rate, he cautioned Israelis against
complacency, saying "Even the best-maintained
car eventually gets a flat tire." An Israeli air force officer said that the system had
had "approximately 90 percent" success since
violence escalated sharply Tuesday. A U.S. official who monitors the system's
performance said of the Israeli finding: "We
believe that to be very close." Israel said that of more than 320 rockets
launched from the Gaza Strip, at least 72 were
intercepted while most of the rest fell harmlessly
in open areas. At least 71 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have
been killed in Israeli military strikes since
Tuesday, Gaza officials said. Iron Dome was initially billed as providing city-
sized coverage against Katyusha-style rockets
with ranges of between 5 km and 70 km. Addressing a Tel Aviv conference hosted by Israel
Defense magazine Monday, Avi Serfaty, deputy
general manager of Iron Dome radar
manufacturer Elta, said the system could now
provide defense at distances of up to 150 km,
potentially allowing more versatile use of batteries deployed nationwide. Elta is a subsidiary of state-owned Israel
Aerospace Industries. Since Tuesday, Hamas and other Gaza guerrillas
have launched rockets as far as 115 km,
threatening Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv,
northern Haifa port, the holy city of occupied
Jerusalem and a nuclear reactor in the southern
town of Dimona. Some of the long-range rockets have been Syrian-
and Iranian-supplied M302s with 144 kg
warheads, Israeli experts say, while others are
locally made M-75 rockets with much smaller
explosive payloads. Israeli officials have warned against so-called
"Iron Dome tourism", where the public, reassured
by the system's performance, watch interceptions
rather than taking cover.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jul-10/263392-israel-90-percent-interception-rate-for-iron-dome.ashx#axzz376HGtA5m
First, the system identifies incoming missiles and
then determines whether their range and direction
threatens a highly populated area, like a city. If the
incoming missile is deemed a threat than Iron
Dome operators launch a counter-missile. This
missile will destroy the enemy missile mid-air.http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=24507147&sid=76

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

a really impressive piece of military hardware.isreal has shown the importance of such a defensive system.but it is very expesive to run even the u.s.a sends funds to help out the 'iron dome' system..