In fact, Iron Dome's hanud (air defense) system is quite sophisticated and effective in warding off missile and rocket attacks. However, in the case of the Hamas militia attack on October 7 2023, more than 5,000 rockets fired by Hamas from Lebanese territory suddenly overwhelmed Israel's air defense systems, including the Iron Dome.
In solidarity with its eternal allies in the Middle East, the United States immediately provided military assistance at the first opportunity to Israel. Quoted from bloomberg.com, it is said that the Pentagon has transferred to Israel the first missiles in the US inventory for the Iron Dome hanud system to intercept Hamas rockets.
Still from the same source, what the US sent to Israel were Tamir missiles – which the US owns but are placed in Israel. Defense officials in Washington declined to say why the US has stockpiles of Tamir missiles in Israel or where the additional stockpiles are currently located. The Tamir missile is manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in Israel with components coming from RTX Corp in Arizona.
This initial delivery underscores the US military's readiness to supply weapons to Israel. President Joe Biden said after a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, it was said that the US would send the weapons.
A single Iron Dome battery of three to four missile launchers and radars can defend an area of nearly 60 square miles. Iron Dome batteries are mobile, and as of mid-2021 Israel had deployed ten batteries across the country, according to US military contractor Raytheon Technologies, RTX's predecessor, in 2014 began producing Iron Dome with Rafael.
The US Army several years ago installed two Iron Dome batteries at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. The service has taken delivery of about 312 Tamir interceptor missiles, according to internal figures provided to congressional staff.
Separately, the US Marine Corps announced in August 2023 that it intended to purchase 1,840 Tamir missiles and 44 launchers for air defense. According to a researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies, it is said each Tamir missile costs around $40,000 to $50,000.
The Tamir system is packaged in a launch container with a capacity of 20 missiles. This mobility launcher is carried on a 6×6 truck, but for standby the launcher is installed on a dead stand. Meanwhile, the radar system is designed to be able to detect targets ranging from rockets, artillery, even to 60 mm mortar projectiles.
The target intercept model is carried out safely, namely when the target is on its flight path. The requirement for the Iron Dome system is to guarantee that the remaining fragments of falling missiles/rockets must not injure the people below.
The Iron Dome working system can be divided into three stages, where the radar will detect incoming threats and estimate the direction of arrival. This information is then transmitted to the BMC unit which will calculate the trajectory of the target, starting from the launch position to the estimated fall point. Based on these calculations, the system then prepares the Tamir missile to intercept the target at the correct coordinates.