Rockets launched towards Israel from the northern Gaza Strip and response from the Israeli missile defense system known as the Iron Dome leave streaks through the sky on May 14, 2021 in Gaza City, Gaza. (Photo by Fatima Shbair/Getty Images)
JERUSALEM — The Israeli Ministry of Defense said it signed its first procurement deal using a recent tranche of US aid funds to buy more interceptors for Israel’s Iron Dome batteries, one of the three tiers of Israel’s multi-layered air defense systems. It has been used widely in the last 15 months of war on multiple fronts to intercept rockets, drones and other projectiles.
The new deal, announced last week with Iron Dome-maker Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, is to expand serial production of the interceptors. Israel Ministry of Defense Director General, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eyal Zamir said that the signing of the Iron Dome contract “is a central component in an unprecedented scope of effort, led by the IMOD together with Rafael and other defense industries, for force build-up and strengthening while fighting.”
Rafael’s CEO Yoav Tourgeman praised the deal and noted Rafael’s close work with the US Missile Defense Agency.
Tourgeman noted that “the expansion of procurement represents another vote of confidence in the Iron Dome system and its continuously upgrading capabilities in the face of threats, and we at Rafael will continue to work decisively to fulfill our mission of being a significant pillar in the state’s security.”
Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Iron Dome has contended with thousands of rockets from Hamas and from Lebanese Hezbollah to the north. It also faced Houthi and Iraqi militia drone threats in which the naval version of Iron Dome, known as C-Dome, was used to defend the coastal city of Eilat. In May2024 the IDF put into service a new Iron Dome battalion.
The new contract was signed on Jan. 16. It is the first contract under a new US aid package that was approved by the US Congress in April 2024, the ministry said. That aid amount was for $8.7 billion and the ministry said that it includes a “dedicated $5.2 billion allocation to strengthen Israel’s air and missile defense systems, including the Iron Dome Defense System, the David’s Sling Weapon System, and the high-powered Laser Defense System, currently in advanced stages of development.”
The ministry did not specify how much of the funds would go to Rafael or how many interceptors were being purchased, but it did note that the funds are for a “significant amount of Iron Dome interceptors.” The contract was signed after talks held by the Israel Missile Defense Organization and the US Missile Defense Agency, as well as Rafael.
Iron Dome’s interceptors are produced in Israel and also in the US at a facility in East Camden, Ark., which is part of a partnership between Rafael and Raytheon called R2S. The companies broke ground on that facility in February 2024.
“The Iron Dome system has transformed the battlefield, protected critical infrastructure, and saved many civilian lives. The deal we signed today will further enhance and expand the system’s capabilities,” Zamir said in the wake of the new agreement.
