Iron Dome Developers Named as Israel Defense Prize Recipients

June 25, 2012 defpro.com

Eight developers received the prize for their work on the missile defense system, which in the past year has provided residents of southern Israel with a new layer of defense against rocket attacks from Gaza

Eight developers of the Iron Dome missile defense system were selected as recipients of the Israel Defense Prize yesterday (Sunday, June 24).

The eight developers work for the Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The decision to present them with the prize was made by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and director general of the Defense Ministry Ehud (Udi) Shani, following recommendations from the prize's committee.

The prize will officially be awarded at a ceremony presided over by the leaders of Israel's defense establishment, which will take place in September.

Iron Dome is a motorized system for intercepting short-range rockets. It operates day and night, in all weather conditions, and it is capable of confronting multiple threats simultaneously.

After three years of development, the missile defense system became operational last year. Four Iron Dome batteries are already operational, and they have successfully intercepted many short-range rockets fired from Gaza. As recently as Saturday night of this week, the defense system intercepted five Grad rockets over the city of Ashkelon.

The process of developing the Iron Dome system began in 2005, when Brig. Gen. Dr. Danny Gold, the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) head of research and development, decided to initiate research and demonstrations of a weapons interception system. Development began two years later, led by Rafael. The first tests of the system's interception capabilities were carried out successfully in 2009. On April 7, 2011, Iron Dome became operational.

Iron Dome is composed of a radar, a control center, and interceptor missiles. The radar detects a rocket launch and passes information regarding its path to the control center, which calculates the predicted point of impact. If this location justifies an interception, a missile is fired to intercept the rocket. The payload of the interceptor missile explodes near the rocket, in a place that is not expected to cause injuries. (IDF)