When The Iron Dome Fails
“You see, no longer are Palestinians just throwing rocks, and while the rockets fired by Hamas are primitive and lack guidance systems, the missiles launched by Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Houthis are guided and often hit exactly what they are aimed at.”
Israeli propaganda has thus far made a really big deal about how safe Israeli citizens have become since the installation of the Iron Dome and Arrow systems, but are you aware that a single Iron Dome installation could be destroyed with as few as 81 missiles?
A recent Associated Press report titled, “Is Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system ironclad?” brings up a number of questions concerning Iron Dome and its ability to protect the people of Israel,
“ Each battery has three or four launchers, 20 missiles, and a radar, according to Raytheon, the U.S. defense giant that co-produces the system with Israel’s Rafael Defense Systems.”
So in theory as few as 21 missiles fired at the radar could render the entire battery inert, and unable to detect incoming missiles, but not really. The AP numbers are contradicted in many reports including Defence One.
“Israel has at least 10 Iron Dome batteries in operation, each containing 60 to 80 interceptor missiles. Each of those missiles costs about US$60,000. In previous attacks involving smaller numbers of missiles and rockets, Iron Dome was 90% effective against a range of threats.”
So instead of 21 it would require at least 81 missiles and rockets.
Of course, way more than 81 will be fired. You see, no longer are Palestinians just throwing rocks, and while the rockets fired by Hamas are primitive and lack guidance systems, the missiles launched by Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Houthis are guided and often hit exactly what they are aimed at.
Again, from AP,
“The military declined to comment on how many Iron Dome batteries are currently deployed. But as of 2021, Israel had 10 batteries scattered around the country, each able to defend a territory of 60 square miles (155 square kilometers), according to Raytheon.”
Ten batteries are said to be capable of protecting 600 square miles but in total Israel measures 8,630 square miles. You do the math. Again, from Defence One,
“The Hamas attacks illustrate very clearly that even the best air defense systems can be overwhelmed if they are overmatched by the number of threats they have to counter.”
So in theory, missiles launched in a coronated attack by Hezbollah, Iran, the Houthis, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan would be the first stage in an all out war that would end Israel as a nation. What’s that? Israel could deploy nukes? Israel could do that but the result would be horrendous. For starters there is Pakistan who would not only retaliate with nukes of their own, but may have supplied Turkey with nukes. And there is little doubt China, in an effort to make sure the oil continues flowing from Iran, would supply nukes to anyone who wants to shoot them at Israel.
“Ankara’s strong and burgeoning strategic ties to Pakistan are causing international concern regarding the possibility of a transfer of nuclear weapons knowledge between the two countries.”
And are you really sure Iran doesn’t have nukes of their own.
While not the latest thing in the arsenal supplied by the United States, Turkey and Pakistan also have F-16 fighter jets as well as several other capable fighters and bombers. Iran has F-14s, Russian made Mig-29s, and more.
Add to that, the first nation to deploy nukes will be branded a paria throughout the world, and if Israel were to first deploy nukes Americans would without a doubt end all military and economic support. Yes, so far America has been the first and only country to deploy nukes and we have been hated by much of the world ever since. I understand the justifications for dropping 2 H Bombs on Japan but public opinion isn’t what it once was,
“In August 1945, 85 percent of the U.S. public told pollsters that they approved of President Harry Truman’s decision to drop two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Sagan said.
Since then, however, U.S. public approval of that decision has declined significantly. And 70 years after the end of World War II, a majority of Americans no longer approved of Truman’s decision. A 2015 poll Sagan commissioned found that only 46 percent of Americans still viewed the atomic bombing of Japan as “the right thing to do.”
“Asked about the atomic bombings, 41.6 percent of the Americans said they are unforgivable. That’s more than the 31.3 percent who said it was necessary to drop the bombs.”
And in other parts of the world,
“Our survey, for example, found that 46% of respondents in the United States approve of President Harry S. Truman’s decision, compared to 27% in Israel, 25% in the UK, and 14% in France.”
But what about Arrow and David’s Sling?
“Iron Dome: Intercepts short-range surface-to-surface rockets (bottom layer)
David’s Sling: Intercepts short to medium and medium to long range surfarce-to-surface missiles (middle layer)
Arrow-2: Intercepts medium to long range missiles (upper layer)
Arrow-3: Intercepts long-range missiles (upper layer)”
What’s missing here?
Anyone?
You still can’t see it? How about this,
“With regards to Hezbollah, the game changer is the quantity of its arsenal (which could easily overwhelm Israel’s air defense) but also its quality and diversity, be it drones and short-range ballistic missiles that Hamas does not have,” Jean Loup Samaan, senior research fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore, told Breaking Defense.”
And this,
“Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack used drones for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes but also to neutralize the Iron Wall’s CCTV cameras in simultaneous attacks, he said. “They also relied on fixed-wing kamikaze Al-Zawari drones to contribute with the numerous rocket launches to the saturation of the Iron’s dome system.”
He added that Hamas is also known to have a home-grown, long-distance drone, the Shehab, which carries an explosive warhead weighing 30 kilograms and can fly up to 250 kilometers, but he said it’s unclear if that was used in the Oct. 7 assault.
Beyond what they may have developed, drone expert Samuel Bendett told Breaking Defense Hamas could also make use of off-the-shelf options, like Ukraine and Russia have.”
Yes, the IDF has taken down Hezbollah drones but,
“Fabian said that if Hezbollah sends only four or five drones at a time, it’s quite likely they will be shot down. “But if they managed to really launch a large number of drones, and combine these attacks with rapid fire, it might be a more effective.”
Drones can be very hard to track.
“Stealth techniques like these play a crucial role in drone operations, as they enable the drones to carry out their missions undetected.”
Now some of you now want to tell me that Israel has Iron Beam lasers that can take down drones and while that is true lasers only work via line of sight and,
“Disadvantages of energy weapons include the requirement for the beam to penetrate the atmosphere; clouds may prevent use. The beam must be held on the target, which may be spinning, for several seconds (the “dwell time”) before enough energy is delivered to destroy it. This makes it difficult to stop a barrage of several missiles even if the system is effective, so that volley fire of interceptors continues to be required. There is also the possibility of rockets being sheathed in heat-resistant material to withstand an energy beam for longer.[9] Energy weapons may be more effective against slower-flying drones, with relatively delicate rotors, control flaps, and guidance systems vulnerable to shorter laser attack, than fast rockets.”
Do you know what NASA long used to protect rockets and space ships from excessive heat? It’s a coating called ceramics — something that has been made locally throughout the Middle East and Palestine for at least 5,000 years. Ceramics can be made locally and easily painted on rockets, missiles, and drones. Think of ceramics as a new way to throw rocks. Ceramic heat coatings are even sold by Amazon.
Now imagine how different it might have been had Israel used those billions of dollars that were spent on “defence” to build businesses, infrastructure, water purification, health care equal to that of Israelis, housing, food, medicine…. for the Palestinians. Who knows, you might have converted some of them to Judaism.
