Concerning Iron Dome, I trust anything from Israel more than I trust General Dynamics or Raytheon. I know that these companies work with Israeli companies all the time on technology. Just do not trust these defense contractors beyond spending government funds.
Although the GD and Raytheon PR machine is pretty good.
Would be disappointed but not surprised if the military shoveled propaganda at us during wartime, if only for morale reasons.
I truly hope that the Patriot PAC3 is much better than it was 25+ years ago.
Raytheon doesn’t make the PAC-3, Lockheed does. The PAC-3 is a different animal, shorter range, specifically designed to counter ballistic missiles up close. The 1991 vintage Patriot missile which is still fielded, Patriot batteries carry a mix of ammunition for different targets, was designed to kill airbreathing targets, and was almost certainly the best in class for that mission in 1991. It was known that it had the capability of engaging Scuds, which have chemical, explosive and nuclear warheads. It was considered worthwhile to provide and test software upgrades to allow it to engage Scuds.
Iraq purchased Scuds to fire at Teheran during their long war. The Scuds did not have the required range, so they modified to Al-Husseins. Having a few hundred pounds of high-explosive rain down on their capital annoyed the Iranians. The U.S., which was concerned about fighting a war with the Soviet Union, correctly considered the Al-Hussein nothing more than a nuisance weapon, like the V-2, and ignored it. The problem for the U.S. was that it turned out after the Cold War that Saddam was going to launch them against Israel. Since it could be fitted with a chemical (poison gas) warhead, the psychological and political implications for Israel were enormous. Using the Patriot takes training, at least several months with the system in White Sands, and in classroom. There were no trained Israeli units, so “giving” them to Israel was pointless. (Ukrainians have been training on Patriot in Poland, Germany, and the United States for over a year, led by U.S instructors.)
The engagement of the Al-Hussein (d/b/a “scud”) by Patriot was a confidence building exercise, as was the deployment of U.S. Patriot batteries to Israel. (The only time foreign troops have ever been used to defend Israeli soil.) The idea was to give Israeli politicians a rationale not to respond to Iraqi nuisance attacks, for doing so would turn some in the Arab public against the coalition, although most Arabs saw through Saddam for what he was. The Patriot kept Israel out, the Arabs in. The Patriot system was 100% successful in this role.