The US Army successfully conducted a live-fire test of the first Iron Dome air defense systems, which Washington acquired from Tel Aviv, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced Tuesday.
“The Iron Dome Defense System-Army (IDDS-A) battery was tested at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico,” the ministry said, adding that the test was assisted by defense contractors Iron Dome developers Rafael, IAI Elta and mPrest.
The ministry said the US has been working to integrate the system into its air defense array and has upgraded and improved the Iron Dome batteries to allow it to also shoot down mortar shells, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles.
Iron Dome is an Israeli mobile missile defense system designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery.
In 2019, Israel signed an agreement with Washington to sell two Iron Dome batteries to the United States and it shipped the first two defense systems to the US Army in 2020.
Under the 2019 agreement between Tel Aviv and Washington, the US military bought Israel's battle-proven Iron Dome that destroys rockets on condition that Israel starts testing a US laser missile interceptor system.
Israeli experts then joined their colleagues at the US Lockheed Martin company to develop a ground-based laser weapon for Israel.
This method of airborne interception using laser has many advantages, including a low cost per interception compared to the Israeli Iron Dome interceptors, which costs $50,000 each.
