US Army May Purchase Iron Dome from Israel to Defend Europe Against Russia

Major General Glenn Bramhall of the US Army’s Air and Missile Defense Command said the US may be interested in buying a short-range missile interceptor used by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.

United States Army General Glenn Bramhall said Monday that the US is looking to purchase the short-range missile interceptor used by Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, which would then be used for European air defense against Russia.

“With all that is happening in Europe, especially the fact that Russia has really awakened itself and has really decided to rebuild its military and is really posing a threat, we are looking at how we can do the multi-tiered defense,” Major General Glenn Bramhall of the US Army’s Air and Missile Defense Command told Reuters at a conference hosted by the Israeli security organization iHLS.

Bramhall said the US has test-launched the Israeli short-range interceptor missile called “Tamir,” with the expectation of complementing the army’s mid-range Patriot and THAAD interceptors within two to three years.

“We are looking at multiple solutions to actually create a third tier that is missing. Patriot and THAAD are great systems that do what they were designed to do. But I don’t think we would want to waste a Patriot or a THAAD missile on something that can be affected by something that’s lower-cost and is actually designed for that job itself,” said Bramhall.

The Iron Dome has had a 90-percent success rate on intercepting Palestinian-fired rockets. The project was funded by the US, and the Iron Dome system has been tested in the US.

Each Tamir unit would cost $100,000 for the US, according to Iron Dome developer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Bramhall said that price is “within an acceptable range.”

“It would be right for us at Rafael, and for every Israeli citizen, to support whatever the Americans decide on,” Yosi Druker, a vice president at Rafael, told Reuters.

By: JNS.org

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