Iron Dome keeps making strides in the US
The US Army has held its second interception test of Iron Dome. (Photo: US Army)
Following a successful integration with the US Marine Corps, the Iron Dome is one step closer to being fielded by the 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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