Israeli Defense Force Considers Deploying Iron Dome as of Sunday

In the wake of the escalation of rocket attacks originating from Gaza towards southern Israel, the IDF is considering beginning to use the Iron Dome rocket defense system in the communities around Gaza already as of Sunday.

The final decision on the matter is expected over the weekend, after the IDF assesses the situation and decides where, if at all, to place the two batteries of the system, whose purpose to provide protection against Kassam and Grad rockets fired from Gaza. Each battery can protect just one city.

The Iron Dome system is designed to intercept short-range rockets with a relatively small warhead that are launched from a distance of 4.5 to 70 kilometers. Under certain conditions it could also be effective against mortar shells.

In the present circumstances, the system would be able to protect a predetermined area with a size of 10X10 km from rockets and mortars. The system knows how to calculate the path of rockets and mortar shells and avoids shooting down those rockets that would be landing in open areas. Iron Dome is unable, however, to intercept objects that are fired from a distance of less than 4.5 km. (read more)