In first, Israel’s ship-mounted Iron Dome downs target near Eilat

Israel’s C-Dome air-defense system intercepted a suspected drone over the Red Sea near Eilat shortly before midnight on Monday. The incident marked the first operational interception of the system, the naval equivalent of Israel’s ground-based Iron Dome.

“Following the sirens that sounded in the area of Eilat regarding the infiltration of a hostile aircraft, IDF Naval forces identified a suspicious aerial target crossing into Israeli territory. The target was successfully intercepted by the ‘C-Dome’ naval defense system,” said the Israel Defense Forces.

“The target was tracked by the IDF, no injuries were reported and no damage was caused,” the statement continued.

The interceptor was installed on the Israeli Navy’s Sa’ar 6-class “Magen” corvette and became operational in November 2022.

C-Dome is a joint project of the Israel Navy, the Israel Missile Defense Organization (part of the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development) and Rafael Advanced Systems.

The Eilat area has been targeted by several drone attacks during the current Gaza war, including an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that fell in Jordanian territory on April 9, 200 meters from the Israeli border and near the Ilan and Asaf Ramon Airport and the city of Eilat.

In the overnight hours of April 7, a naval base was lightly damaged by a UAV launched from Iraq that entered Israeli territory from Jordan.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq took responsibility for that attack, claiming it struck a “vital target” in Israel.

In December, Jordanian air defenses intercepted an armed drone fired by the group that was headed towards Eilat.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have also launched multiple missile and drone attacks at Eilat in support of Hamas. Most of the launches were thwarted by Israeli, U.S. or Saudi forces or missed their targets.