Israel-Iran War: Has Iron Dome failed? Missiles landing at Beer Sheva, Haifa, Tel Aviv expose air defence system

Has Israel's air defence system Iron Dome failed? After it failed to detect and intercept the Hamas-fired barrage of missiles on October 7, 2023, it was tested once again in the ongoing Israel-Iran War. Retaliating to the missile attacks on its nuclear sites of Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, Iran fired a wave of missiles and drones targeting military sites in Haifa and Tel Aviv. Besides, it also attacked four locations, including Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva, southern Israel on June 19. 

Iranian missiles also struck close to a tech park that houses a Microsoft office on Friday. About 24 people were killed and many others were left wounded in these attacks. Earlier on Thursday, an Iranian ballistic missile struck the business district of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv and caused a large sheet of glass to fall several floors from a skyscraper and part of an electrical pylon to crash to the ground. About 20 people are believed to have been injured by the blast in the area.

How effective is Iron Dome?

Talking to NDTV, Brigadier General (Retired) Amir Avivi, Chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF), admitted that the Iron Dome was under stress and like any other air defence system, this too is not 100 effective. He claimed that the system remains intact despite a barrage of projectiles, and it can be called to be 90% successful. Admitting that no system is flawless, he said it is hard to reach 100%.

What is Iron Dome?

Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, Iron Dome is the all-weather air defence system of the Jewish state. It is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 to 70 kilometres. It was tested for the first time on April 7, 2011, when it intercepted and destroyed rockets fired from Gaza. According to The Israel Post, Iron Dome shot down 90% of rockets launched from Gaza that would have landed in populated areas of Beer Sheva. However, its limits were exposed on October 7, 2023, when Hamas fired about 5000 missiles against Israeli targets. Hundreds of missiles and rockets landed in Israel killing many people.