The U.S. Army, together with the Israeli Missile Defense Organization in the Defense Ministry, held a live-fire test of a Rafael-made Iron Dome battery, the system’s Israeli manufacturer, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, announced on Tuesday.
The U.S. Army purchased two such batteries and is planning to deploy one shortly after the test.
Dubbed by the U.S. Army “Iron Dome Defense System-Army (IDDS-A),” the battery will defend military installations against subsonic cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, rockets, artillery and mortar threats, according to the statement.
Ahead of the deployment, the U.S. Army conducted a live-fire test of the battery at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, where multiple targets simulating missile and UAV threats were successfully detected, tracked and intercepted by the personnel using Iron Dome.
“U.S. Army soldiers assigned to 3-43 Air Defense Artillery Battalion successfully detected, tracked and intercepted multiple cruise missile and unmanned aerial-system surrogate targets,” said the statement.
“The testing prepares the system for U.S. operational forces use by ensuring it meets U.S. Army safety standards and that the system will effectively operate within the U.S. AMD [Army and Missile Defense] architecture,” it added.
According to Maj. Gen. Brian Gibson, director of the Army and Missile Defense Cross-Functional Team, “it’s important to understand that implementation for the U.S. is about the ability to integrate this system into our air-defense picture. We need to integrate this into our U.S. architecture and to give confidence to our regional commanders that we can integrate this system safely into what they have.”
Brig. Gen. (Res.) Pini Yungman, executive vice president and head of Rafael’s Air and Missile Defense Directorate, said: “Once again, the Iron Dome has proven its effectiveness and operational capabilities in combat scenarios. As part of the U.S. Army’s operational training, American troops operated the system which functioned with optimal effectiveness against a variety of threats and intercepted targets from different ranges.”
