Israel reportedly refused to share the system's source code
Iron Dome missile test | (photo credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)
The US Army is reconsidering its plans to buy additional Israeli Iron Dome missile-defense systems because they cannot be integrated into American-made air defenses.“It took us longer to acquire those [first] two batteries than we would have liked,” Gen. Mike Murray, commander of Army Futures Command, told the House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee last Thursday.
“We believe we cannot integrate them into our air-defense system based upon some interoperability challenges, some cyber[security] challenges and some other challenges,” he was quoted by the Breaking Defense news site as telling legislators. “So what we ended up having is two stand-alone batteries that will be very capable, but they cannot be integrated.
”Murray said they identified several problems, including cyber vulnerabilities and operational challenges, during efforts last year to integrate elements of Iron Dome with the US Army’s Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS).
Last year, the US Army purchased two batteries from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which included 12 launchers, two sensors, two battlement management centers and 240 interceptors.Army officials reportedly requested the “source code” of the Iron Dome from Israel, which supplied engineering information but refused to provide the code detailing how the system works – a necessary component to integrate the two countries’ defense systems.
Iron Dome is built by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and Raytheon, which manufactures the American-made Patriot missile system. The radar systems are from ELTA System, a subsidiary of IAI.
The fully mobile system carries 10 kg. of explosives and can intercept an incoming projectile from four to 70 km. away. It is able to calculate when rockets will land in open areas, choosing not to intercept them, or toward civilian centers.
Since its first deployment in April 2011 outside Beersheba, Iron Dome has intercepted roughly 85% of projectiles fired toward Israeli civilian centers during conflicts between terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip and against missiles launched by Iranian-backed militias from Syria toward the Golan Heights.
While the US has its THAAD anti-ballistic-missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase, it does not have short-range air-defense solutions.
The US Army earmarked more than $1 billion for the project to take components of the system and integrate them with its IBCS. A 2023 deadline was imposed by Congress on the military to develop its own system, or by law it will need to purchase additional Iron Dome systems from Israel.
The purchase was made to fill its short-term needs for an Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IPC) until a permanent solution to the problem is put in place to best protect ground-maneuvering troops against an increasingly wide range of aerial threats, including short-range projectiles.
The purchase was made to fill its short-term needs for an Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IPC) until a permanent solution to the problem is put in place to best protect ground maneuvering troops against an increasingly wide range of aerial threats, including short-range projectiles.
“The State of Israel is grateful to the American administration for its ongoing support of Israel’s defense system and will be happy to assist as much as the U.S. administration requires its help,” read a statement given to The Jerusalem Post from Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
In a statement provided to The Jerusalem Post, the Defense Ministry urged the US Army to consider integrating the system into a long-term solution as it would express confidence and recognition of the system’s “exceptional capabilities” and the quality of Israel’s defense industries.
“The Iron Dome is the best air defense system in the world, with over 2,000 operational interceptions- an interception rate of over 90%,” the Defense Ministry said, adding that “the Iron Dome system and its components have a developed connectivity capability, both for Israeli and external systems, which has previously been demonstrated in several exercises and trials.”
Thanking the US government for a “longstanding partnership” in developing and manufacturing Israeli missile defense systems, the ministry said that “Israel continues to engage in professional, productive, and up-to-date discussions with US government and military officials regarding both the procurement of two batteries that the US military has already procured and the incorporation of Iron Dome system components into US systems as a broader solution.
"According to reports in American defense media, the US Army does not want it as a long-term solution.
It would be “exceptionally difficult to integrate Iron Dome into our layered air-defense architecture [and] to get Iron Dome to talk to other systems [and] other radars, specifically the Sentinel radar,” Murray told Breaking Defense. “What you’re probably – almost certainly – going to see is two stand-alone systems. And if the best we can do is stand-alone systems, we do not want to buy another two batteries.”