The US Army has held its second interception test of Iron Dome. (Photo: US Army)
The US Army and the Israeli MoD’s Israeli Missile Defense Organisation (IMDO) have conducted an Iron Dome Defence System-Army (IDDS-A) missile flight test.
This event marks the second interception test since two IDDS-A batteries were supplied to the US at the end of 2020.
In a 3 August statement, Iron Dome manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems said: ‘US Army soldiers assigned to 3-43 Air Defense Artillery Battalion successfully detected, tracked, and intercepted multiple CM [cruise missile] and UAS surrogate targets.’
The US Army ‘will use the IDDS-A to defend supporter forces within fixed and semi-fixed locations against sub-sonic cruise missiles, groups 2&3 UAS, rockets, artillery and mortar threats,' the statement continued.
In mid-July, the US Marine Corps successfully integrated the Iron Dome ground launcher and Tamir interceptor missile with the Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) and the corps' CAC2S battle management system.
Iron Dome has served as the lowest layer of the multi-layered Israeli air and missile defence network since 2011.
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