Monday, November 26th, 2012
By Richard Edmondson
What exactly is the “Iron Dome Missile Defense System”? The commonly
held view is that it’s a US technological achievement made available to
Israel.
But it is growing increasingly difficult these days to determine exactly where to draw the line between “US technology” and “Israeli technology.” This is underscored by a recent article at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, or JINSA:
By Richard Edmondson
What exactly is the “Iron Dome Missile Defense System”? The commonly
held view is that it’s a US technological achievement made available to
Israel.But it is growing increasingly difficult these days to determine exactly where to draw the line between “US technology” and “Israeli technology.” This is underscored by a recent article at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, or JINSA:
Iron Dome’s proven effectiveness has greatly increased expectations that it will be a popular product on the world market and has drawn considerable attention to possible co-production in the United States.Would it be more accurate, then, to think of Iron Dome as Israeli technology whose research and development was funded by US taxpayers? An article by Bloomberg News here seems to take that view, referring to Iron Dome as “Israel’s U.S.-funded anti-missile system.” More>>
Developed by the Israeli firms Elta, mPrest Systems, and Rafael, the relatively low-cost Iron Dome system (estimated to be $85,000 per Tamir interceptor missile and $20 million per battery), enjoyed an unprecedentedly rapid development cycle going from drawing board to operational system in five years.
