Israel has received word the United States is considering issuing an official
request for information from the Defense Ministry for technical specifications
regarding the Iron Dome anti-rocket system, ahead of a possible
purchase.
The US Army has expressed interest in the system to be deployed
outside forward bases in Iraq and Afghanistan that could potentially be targeted
by Katyusha rockets. The US military has discovered 107 mm. Katyushas in Iraq in
the past.
RELATED:Residents of the South face renewed rocket attacksIDF: Technical glitch is behind Iron Dome failureAnother potential client is South Korea, which is interested in
using the system to defend against rocket attacks from North
Korea.
Israel currently has three Iron Dome batteries deployed in the
South. They have intercepted a number of rockets since the beginning of the year
including during the recent round of violence with Islamic Jihad in late
October.
Iron Dome is designed to defend against rockets at a range of 4
to 70 km., and each battery consists of a multi-mission radar manufactured by
Israel Aerospace Industries and three launchers, each equipped with 20
interceptors named Tamir.
By the end of 2012, Barak said Israel would
have nine operational Iron Dome batteries including thousands of Tamir
interceptors. Each interceptor costs about $50,000 and a battery around $50
million.
Two rockets are usually fired at enemy targets slated for
interception.
Earlier this year, the US Congress gave Israel $205 million
to purchase four more Iron Dome batteries.
In August, Rafael announced it
was partnering with Raytheon to market the Iron Dome in the US. The system is
said to be capable of working together with the US Army’s Counter Rocket,
Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM) system as part of a layered defense for military
bases.