The ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran has triggered a discourse over the combat efficacy of the venerated Israeli Iron Dome air defense system, with one camp swearing by its capability and another mocking it for failing to defend the capital, Tel Aviv.
The Israeli-Iranian conflict began on June 13 with unprecedented airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and top military leadership under Operation ‘Rising Lion.’
Wounded, but not defeated, Iran retaliated soon after. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) forces launched missiles and drones at Israel, targeting big cities like the capital, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa, among others. Iran has since launched multiple waves of missiles, estimated to be more than 350, with the conflict now in its fourth day.
Interestingly, several Iranian missiles were able to breach Israel’s multi-layered air defense network, causing infrastructure damage and civilian casualties in Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on June 16 that only 5-10% of the missiles are breaching the air defenses and impacting Israel.
This figure includes missiles that the Iron Dome or other AD systems did not attempt to shoot down purposely “per protocol,” allowing them to target open spaces without harming any vital infrastructure, as well as missiles that it was unable to intercept and that struck cities, resulting in damage and casualties.
The interception rate of missiles, according to the IDF, is 80%-90%. However, it includes all the components of its layered air defense network, along with allied air defense assets. Notably, the performance of its popular Iron Dome air defense network against Iranian missiles has come under scrutiny once again.
Is The Iron Dome Failing?
The IDF has claimed that the Iron Dome, alongside the Arrow and David’s Sling air defense systems, intercepted the “vast majority” of projectiles launched by Iran.
Each Iron Dome battery can provide security coverage up to 155 square kilometers against rockets with ranges between 4 and 70 kilometers. One battery includes three to four launchers, each holding up to 20 interceptors.
Each battery reportedly costs around US$100 million (approximately US$157 million), and each interceptor missile costs around US$50,000. Given the costs involved, the Iron Dome system carefully selects its targets.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had earlier stated that the Iron Dome is “a singular icon of technological innovation” capable of handling multiple threats simultaneously, with a success rate of up to 97 percent. It says that no existing air-defense system can claim nearly 2000 intercepts achieved by the Iron Dome.
However, critics have drawn attention to the breach of Israel’s defenses, even if in a limited fashion. Reports and images circulating online claim that many missiles caused serious damage in Tel Aviv, Bat Yam, Rishon Lezion, and the Kirya facility, the latter being home to the Israeli military headquarters.
A widely shared video allegedly depicted a missile striking close to the IDF headquarters, casting doubt on the Iron Dome’s ability to fend off fast and precision-guided missiles.
Notably, Iran has employed the strategy of overwhelming Israel’s defenses by firing massive salvos of missiles and drones in waves. The Israeli Iron Dome may have struggled not only with the volume but also the speed of ballistic missiles, which travel faster and at higher altitudes than the rockets it was designed for.
Some military experts say Iran may also have employed decoys to overwhelm the Iron Dome and other air defenses to evade detection–a claim that the IDF has denied.
Info War
With information warfare now a crucial part of any modern combat, several claims and counterclaims are made on social media.
Some pro-Iran military bloggers have claimed that the Iron Dome suffered damage. A video has been posted to the social media site X with a caption stating that an Iron Dome interceptor fired to take down Iranian missiles looped back and hit the launcher instead, giving the missile a clear path to hit Nevatim Air Base.
These claims could not be authenticated at the time of writing this report.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have told the Iranian media that in their latest attack, they used a novel technique that made Israel’s multiple defense systems target one another. EurAsian Times cannot verify any of the claims!
The Iron Dome may not be invincible; nothing really is! The vulnerability of this system was first exposed in the Hamas October 2023 attack, where the militia group used newer weapons fired in salvos. Later, in May 2024, the system was reported to have malfunctioned, allowing several hostile rockets to land in populated civilian areas.
Several pro-Israeli military experts have taken to X to dispel the perception that the system is failing, asserting that the Iron Dome was not made to thwart the threats that it is currently fighting against.
They clarified that the Iron Dome is optimized for short-range, slower-moving rockets like those fired by the Gaza-based Hamas or the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia, and not the long-range ballistic missiles like Iran’s Shahab-3 or its alleged hypersonic variants. This means that Iron Dome’s radar and interceptors are bound to struggle with high-altitude, high-speed targets.
Penetrating The Israeli Air Defense Cover
This massive attack by Iran has put Israel’s highly praised multilayered air defense system—which had been developed over decades and supported by substantial US funding—to the test. The system is made up of multiple interconnected parts, including the Arrow, David’s Slings, and Iron Dome.
Developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the Arrow system, including the Arrow-2 and Arrow-3, is designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles in the exo-atmospheric or high endo-atmospheric phases.
Arrow-2 can target missiles at altitudes up to 100 kilometres, while Arrow-3 can intercept in space at an altitude of up to 150 kilometers and a range of 2,400 kilometres. They use a hit-to-kill interceptor to counter advanced ballistic missiles like Iran’s Shahab-3, Sejjil, and Zolfaghar. The system has proved crucial in neutralising maximum Iranian threats.
A majestic photo of an exoatmospheric hit carried out by an Arrow-3 interceptor in space surfaced on social media and has since gone viral. Reports from the intervening night of June 15 and 16 also state that the system was at work all night at the Nevatim Air Base.
The other system is the David’s Sling. Jointly developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Raytheon, David’s Sling bridges the gap between the short-range Iron Dome and long-range Arrow, targeting medium-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and large-caliber rockets.
It uses Stunner interceptors with advanced radar and electro-optical sensors for precision targeting. It is specifically effective against low-flying cruise missiles, such as those deployed by Hezbollah or Iran.
According to the latest reports, the system has successfully intercepted ballistic missiles launched from Iran for the first time, marking a historic milestone.
While both systems have been crucial in shooting down the missiles launched by Tehran, their penetration by Iranian ballistic missiles has essentially broken the illusion that the Israeli air defense network is impenetrable.
Interestingly, the IDF has long maintained that its air defense array is not hermetic, and that 5-10% of missiles will leak and reach their targets.
Nevertheless, social media is flooded with visuals of damage caused in Israel. Some have claimed that Iranian ballistic missiles have caused large-scale damage in Tel Aviv, leaving infrastructure destroyed and engulfed in flames.
“Israel’s air defenses are wearing thin, and more projectiles are getting through,” a news outlet called AFPost wrote on X.
It is safe to say that Iran’s ballistic missiles, saturation tactics, and potential electronic warfare continue to expose the vulnerabilities, allowing some strikes to hit civilian and military targets. Each Arrow and David’s Sling battery can engage only a limited number of targets simultaneously, and the Iron Dome, while effective against short-range threats, was stretched by the volume of ballistic missiles.
Additionally, Iran’s use of mixed barrages—combining ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones—forces Israel’s systems to prioritize targets, creating gaps.
The missile strikes also establish that no air defense system in the world has a 100% interception rate, and none of them are currently impenetrable.
Israel’s air defenses are currently supplemented by the US, as confirmed by a US defense official on June 13. Although the official did not provide specific details, the US has both ground-based Patriot missile defense systems and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems in the Middle East capable of intercepting ballistic missiles. Additionally, an unidentified US naval destroyer is also reportedly assisting Israel in shooting down the Iranian missiles.
While the US air defense systems have helped mitigate the threat, they have also been unable to eliminate it entirely. The THAAD, considered one of the world’s best and most capable missile defense systems, had previously failed against Houthi missiles, as reported by the EurAsian Times.
A theory floated by some military observers suggests that Israel is deliberately allowing a breach of its air defenses so that it can justify a bigger, perhaps a disproportionate response, against Iran.
The Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, has already warned that Iranian citizens will pay a big price, indicating that a mammoth Israeli attack is imminent.
The EurAsian Times does not subscribe to the theory and cannot independently verify its feasibility at this point. Nonetheless, we understand that Iran is currently taking the “escalate to deter” approach.
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