We may not have iron dome. But why worry when we have this?
(spit)
It plots the trajectory of every target and then only fires on those headed toward the most important.
Even when overwhelmed, it will take out the biggest and those which are headed toward a prioritized list of potential impact areas...and can match that trajectory against 10s of thousands of potential impact points.
This is FAR, FAR beyond any technology held by any other country in the world, including us.
We may not have iron dome. But why worry when we have this?
(spit)
It’s a good system, but the missiles are way too expensive.
There is simply too much expensive gear in the missile that gets blown up along with the target.
Something like 50,000 each... about a quarter million shekels.
There are other ideas that cost far less.... someday they may be built and deployed.
The Israelis could use a phalanx like system to destroy the missiles far more cheaply but they don’t want the rounds falling into Gaza and causing civil casualties.
It’s possible to use smart bullets that explode if they miss the target, the resulting debris so non-aerodynamic that it does not travel much farther.
A system that launches two missiles at each target may be possible. One contains sophisticated gear like what’s in the Iron Dome missiles and controls a twin that flys alongside. The twin strikes the target, the other returns or deploys a chute. Less costly since the dumb twin needs only a cheap cpu to receive instructions and operate control surfaces.
A system that fires many small bullet like projectiles, each with a cpu. It’s simple and cheap to communicate with each projectile using a rudimentary form of microwave radio. The data link would also let the spinning projectiles know their orientation because there is a 3db difference when the tiny antena embedded into the ceramic base of the shell rotates out of polarization with the rf ground signal. This knowledge lets the projectile know when to detonate small internal charges that vent through tiny ports and thus provide guidance. The projectiles would contain a single chip incorporating the rf circuitry and MCU, a capacitor and a few other cheap components. The brains for guidance would be at the ground station. Every time one projectile misses the others are sent data to correct their course toward the target. If they pass the target they are sent a destruct code. The projectiles are powered not by a battery but by a capacitor that is charged in the launcher just prior to firing, data is also loaded to the MCU just prior to firing. The data is held in ram in the MCU so if a projectile is lost it contains no data.
The guidance by detonation of small internal charges that vent through tiny ports is a pretty strange way to control a projectile...especially one that is spinning very fast. It can be done because the guidance computer at the ground station knows the exact orientation of the projectile as it spins and its exact location. It builds up a record of orientation, speed and direction and extrapolates from this data for any point in the projectiles flight. It guides the projectile with tiny nudges the same way fly-by-wire can keep a non-aerodynamic plane stable in flight (like the Wobblin Goblin stealth fighter)