The Iron Dome is not responsible for intercepting the ballistic missiles that Iran is launching at Israel, explained Travis Hawley, a national security analyst and former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer.
“The Iron Dome actually was not designed to intercept ballistic missiles,” he told ILTV. “The Iron Dome is designed for shorter-range rockets and mortars. Think of the weaponry that Hamas shoots towards the homeland. That is more the Iron Dome's responsibility. However, the Iron Dome can step in as sort of a last resort to help shoot down some of these ballistic missiles.”
To stop ballistic missiles, Israel relies on its Arrow systems—Arrow II and Arrow III. If those systems fail to intercept, the Iron Dome may serve as a backup.
So why are rockets getting through?
“It is somewhat of a failure of the entire integrated air defense system,” Hawley noted. “But it's really hard to have a high degree of success or a perfect 100% when they're shooting salvos of 50 to 100 ballistic missiles at one time.”
Watch the full interview:
