Over the past 11 years, more than 15,000 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel by Hezbollah in Lebanon, and by Hamas in the Gaza strip. Until recently, the only thing Israeli civilians could do was run for cover but in the latest round of fighting between Israel and Hamas late last year, some people stopped running and tried to get some good pictures because this time when Hamas fired rockets from Gaza at Israeli cities, Iron Dome fired missiles to intercept them in the sky before they could do any damage on the ground
The Iron Dome, also known as “Iron Cap” is a mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. It is a missile system designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 to 70 kilometres away and whose trajectory would take them to a populated area.
When Hamas launches a rocket, Iron Dome’s radar detects it, and its computers calculate where it will land. If it’s headed for an empty field, Iron Dome won’t waste an interceptor on it. But if it’s going towards a populated area, the system will figure out the best place to intercept the rocket, so that the falling shrapnel won’t do any harm.
The System has an impressive success rate of destroying about 90% of the rockets and missiles that Hamas, the Palestinian political party governing Gaza, is firing into southern Israel.
Additional information
BBC
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20385306
YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqZe_49xPyc
Washington Post
www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/16/israel-conflict-what-is-the-iron-dome/
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