The highly sophisticated, multi-billion-dollar defense system has been under constant redevelopment since its inception in the early 2000s. Here's how it works.
Israeli missiles are launched from the Iron Dome as a salvo of rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip on October 8.
There are three parts that make it work, says Tom Karako — the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.First, there's the radar. When a rocket is launched into Israel, the system detects it and collects data on its flight path."For rockets and artillery, for ballistic missiles, it's pretty predictable.
The system is expensive — each missile it launches costs about $40,000 to $50,000 — and the U.S. has poured billions of dollars into its development and maintenance More than 5,000 rockets have been launched into Israel since the attacks from Hamas began Saturday, according to the Israeli military, which says the Iron Dome successfully neutralized most of them.
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