The Iron Dome

Short answer: Iron Dome is a mobile short-range air defense system built by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with Israel Aerospace Industries. According to Wikipedia, it is designed to intercept rockets and artillery shells fired from about 4 to 70 km away.

A battery has three parts. The EL/M-2084 radar, built by Elta, detects a launch and tracks its path. A battle-management center, built by mPrest, predicts where the rocket will land and fires only at those headed for populated or protected areas. Three or four launchers each hold 20 Tamir interceptors, which carry electro-optic sensors and steering fins. Rafael says the Tamir has a special warhead that detonates the target's warhead in the air. In a 2015 drone test, some targets were destroyed by the proximity warhead and others by a direct hit. Iron Dome was declared operational near Beersheba on March 27, 2011, and made its first interception on April 7, 2011. The United States contributed $1.6 billion from 2011 to 2021 and approved another $1 billion in 2022. Success rates are disputed. Rafael says more than 90%. Israeli military figures reviewed by Michael Armstrong (2018) were about 85% in 2012 and about 90% in 2014. Those rates count only rockets the system chose to engage. Critics, including MIT's Theodore Postol and Richard Lloyd, argued from video and damage analysis that far fewer warheads were destroyed. Armstrong reports that proponents dispute those methods. Rafael has also offered a naval version, C-Dome, unveiled in 2014.

In collections:The Arsenal