The U.S. Army is taking a step in the right direction when it comes to shooting down a cruise missile by purchasing the proven American-Israeli Iron Dome system.
A joint development between America’s Raytheon and Israel’s Rafael, the missile defense system - which is partially built in the United States - has become a staple in Israel, where it is frequently used to thwart rocket attacks by terror groups.
The Army has looked at Iron Dome for some time but has finally finalized the contract as part of its Indirect Fires Protection Capability (IFPC) program, which will provide much-needed air defense artillery upgrades to combat missiles, mortars and other airborne threats.
“We’re conducting analysis and experimentation for enduring IFPC. So that includes some engineering-level analysis and simulations to determine the performance of multiple options, including Iron Dome -or pieces of Iron Dome- and then how we integrate all of that into the [integrated air and missile defense] system ,” said Daryl Youngman, Deputy Director of the Air and Missile Defense Cross Functional Team.
According to Defense News, the Iron Dome will be fielded to specific units for testing in exercises, where it will be evaluated and tweaked for American use.
