Israeli Air Force Successfully Tests Upgraded Iron Dome

The Israeli Defence Ministry has announced that the Israeli air force has successfully tested an upgraded version of its “Iron Dome” missile defence system. “This test constitutes a new success in the project to strengthen the Iron Dome’s performance,” Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement yesterday. “Israel has invested an enormous budget to finance the different missile defence systems that should allow us to protect the whole of our territory within a few years,” he added. According to media reports, the latest version of the Iron Dome is designed to intercept medium-range missiles, such as those possessed by Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah group. Israel installed the first Iron Dome in 2011 and has intercepted more than 100 rockets since. Developed by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, each battery has radar detection and tracking system, a firing control system and three launchers for 20 interception missiles. They have a range of four to 70 km (2.5 to 44 miles). The Israeli missile defence programme includes other systems, including Arrow, which is for ballistic missiles, and David’s Sling, for medium-range attacks.