[GeronL]

The US, South Korea... maybe Taiwan and other countries should be buying up Iron Dome.

[zeestephen]

That’s very encouraging.

However, it’s hard to believe that Iran or China or Russia can’t engineer ways to make cheap mass produced offensive missiles more deadly.

This looks the beginning of a classic arms race, actually.

[Maurice Tift]

  This is devastating not only to the terror strategy of Hamas and Hezbollah, but also to the military doctrines of Israel’s nation state enemies, such as Iran and Syria, which have heavily invested in missiles and rockets to compensate for their weak air power.

Wedding Party in Israel

[zeestephen]

ilcenter,

Thanks for your back-to-back posts.

Very informative.

And the first time I've felt a flash of optimism about Israel's survival in several years.

Are you located in the USA, Israel, or some place else?

[Bobalu]

I agree with the premise of this article. I would add that much of the money spent on this system stays in Israel... it stays as profits for the manufacturers and salary for the workers and designers.

The real cost is the actual value of the physical components and the fact that the workers ingenuity and labor would be better spent doing something more productive.

There is a possibility that Israel may end up turning a profit on all this. They certainly are the world leader in this technology and foreign sales to western powers and perhaps India/Taiwan/S.Korea just might make a business of this :-)

Mortar fire is a difficult problem for towns close to Gaza though, Iron dome is not cost efficient against mortars since they are very cheap. The proper defense against mortars is a Phalanx like system. The problem is that the massive barrage of bullets thrown by a Phalanx aimed at the sky will fall back on Gaza and cause casualties. Yes, Israel worries about casualties in Gaza and that is why they are not using Phalanx.

[nuconvert]

Not hearing a whole lot of thanks in that article.
But you’re welcome.

[Candor7]

Ping.

[WildWeasel]

I knew playing Missile Command in my youth would pay off someday. Maybe the Israeli's will call me soon?

[bert]

-——Moreover, most rockets miss and Iron Dome ignores them———

This is the money sentence. In the first instance, the rockets are not accurate enough to be an unmanageable threat. To become more accurate, the rockets must become much more expensive and technical. The technical part is important because it means those who tend the rockets must have educations that are unobtainable.

-———with the exponential rate of technological progress-——

It is pleasing to read words of an educated person/journalist who knows the correct term is exponential and not parabolic

[Carry_Okie]

The actual marginal cost of production of a Tamir interceptor is low and reflects the costs of the basic raw materials; metal, fuel, explosives and electronic components used in its manufacture, and the labor required to run the assembly line. If the IDF ends up ordering 10 times as many interceptors as originally estimated, then their “cost” will likely drop to around $5,000. At 100 times as many the “cost” will approach the marginal cost of less than $1000.

I've been in the business of making electronic components for Patriot missiles and radar systems. I don't believe it.

[Carry_Okie]

The practical upshot of this is that the number of rockets per Israeli fatality has risen from 50-75 (Lebanon and Gaza pre-Iron Dome) to 300 in 2011 (75% interception) and around 500 in 2012 (90% interception), despite Hamas using more lethal rockets.

There is no analysis here of the cost to Israel of the disruption when under missile attack. Everybody heads for shelters. They are not working.

[Carry_Okie]

The practical upshot of this is that the number of rockets per Israeli fatality has risen from 50-75 (Lebanon and Gaza pre-Iron Dome) to 300 in 2011 (75% interception) and around 500 in 2012 (90% interception), despite Hamas using more lethal rockets.

Nor does this analysis include the cost to Israel of maintaining the interdiction effort to interrupt supply to Gaza. These are not trustworthy numbers.

Further, when (not if) the Palis go to CBW, how effective will the Iron Dome be then?

I applaud the performance of the Iron Dome. But I do not think it is nearly the "gamechanger" proffered here.