Explainer: What is ‘Iron Dome’ that Trump wants to build? Who else has it?

US President Donald Trump on Monday (January 27) said he would sign an executive order to begin building an “Iron Dome” air defence system for the United States, similar to the one that Israel has been using for the past decade or more to intercept thousands of incoming rockets.

Trump had earlier, during his presidential election campaign, promised to build the Iron Dome, and had said that it would be “made right here in the USA”. As the new US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth took office, Trump said the Iron Dome order was among four executive orders he would sign.

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President Trump has in the past praised the Israeli Iron Dome system and the way it’s been effective against the Hamas and Hezbollah during the past 15 months.

“They knock down just about every one of them. So I think the United States is entitled to that,” said Trump.

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What is the Iron Dome?

The Iron Dome is a mobile all-weather air defence system used by Israel to intercept and destroy short-range rockets, artillery shells, and UAVs. It was developed by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries.

Its manufacturer said that it can operate day and night, under any kind of weather conditions, and can respond to multiple threats at the same time.

The Iron Dome has three central components: the detection and tracking radar, the battle management and weapon control (BMC), and the missile firing unit that launches the interceptor missile, equipped with electro-optic sensors and multiple steering fins that make it highly manoeuvrable.

Also Read: Explained: What's Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system which intercepted Hamas rockets?

How is it different?

The Iron Dome is different from a typical air defence missile battery by the fact that each launcher is independently deployed and operated remotely through a secure wireless connection.

It is said that each Iron Dome battery is capable of protecting an area of about 150 sq kms.

Iron Dome in Israel

The Iron Dome was first declared operational and deployed on March 27, 2011 near Beersheba in Israel. The Iron Dome for the first time successfully intercepted a rocket launched from Gaza on April 7, 2011.

In March 2012, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Iron Dome had shot down 90 per cent of the rockets launched from Gaza that would have landed in populated areas.

During the Israel-Palestine crisis in 2021, Hamas fired over 4,300 rockets at Israel from Gaza. It was estimated that 680 of these rockets fell short and landed in Gaza. The Iron Dome intercepted about 90 per cent of the rockets that were heading towards populated areas within Israel.

Also Read: US considers returning 2 Iron Dome systems purchased from Israel: Report

In April 2024, Iran launched a barrage of missiles towards Israel, which were mostly intercepted by the Iron Dome.

Experts said that the effectiveness rate of the Iron Dome is “very high”, compared to other air defence systems.

The cost and funding

The cost per battery reportedly works out to US$50 million, and the cost per interception is between US$100,000 - $150,000.

The US reportedly contributed about US$1.6 billion towards Israel’s Iron Dome from 2011 to 2021, and the US Congress approved another US$1 billion in 2022.

Criticism

Sceptics argued that the cost of the Iron Dome is very high, especially compared to the cost of the rockets fired by the Palestinians that could range from $800 to several thousand dollars only.

It is also said that the Iron Dome could be vulnerable when swarms of missiles are launched simultaneously and there are not enough interceptors to counter them. The system is also significantly less effective against very short distance saturation strikes, and against rockets fired at low trajectories.

Which other nations have Iron Dome?

There have been reports that Israel has exported the Iron Dome system to a few other countries.

In December 2016, Azerbaijan’s defence minister told journalists that his country had entered into an agreement with Israel to purchase Iron Dome batteries. This is the first confirmed sale of the system to another nation.

In November 2012, it was reported that Indian defence planners were considering the possibility of acquiring an indigenous version of the Iron Dome. In 2017, PM Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu signed several agreements on defence and technology worth around $2 billion, including a deal to purchase the Iron Dome system.

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Singapore is reported to have bought the Iron Dome, and is believed to have at least one battery. But the government has not commented on its existence.

Romania signed a deal in May 2018 to buy the Iron Dome system.

In 2019, the US purchased two Iron Dome batteries, and Rafael announced the first battery’s delivery in September 2020.

In August 2022, it was reported that Cyprus has signed an agreement with Israel for the purchase of the Iron Dome to counter the threat of Turkish drones.

In September 2021, there were reports that Saudi Arabia was considering the purchase of the Iron Dome.

South Korea had considered buying the Iron Dome system from Israel for several years, but finally announced in 2017 that it would develop its own version.