Israel-Palestine war: How Hamas breached most advanced 'Iron ...

8 Oct 2023

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Business News/ News / Israel-Palestine war: How Hamas breached most advanced ‘Iron Dome’ with rocket attack

Israel’s most advanced defence system, the Iron Dome, is back into the highlight as a video showing the technique of intercepting hundreds of rockets during the Hamas offensive has emerged. The video, reportedly shot in Zikim, shows the ‘Iron Dome’ intercepting the rockets in the air and destroying them, avoiding casualties.

In one of the most unprecedented operations, Hamas – a Palestinian militant organisation – on Saturday fired more than 5,000 rockets at Israel from Gaza Strip while its militants breached its borders, killing civilians and soldiers. At least 1,000 people have died in the Hamas militant attack and Israel’s retaliation to the offensive.

The gun battle continued through the night in Gaza and Israel, while the darkened sky remained frequently illuminated by the relentless streaks of rockets.

But, Hamas still managed to breach the world’s most advanced defence systems, striking some targets within the Israeli territory which resulted in one of the most serious escalations in Israel-Gaza conflicts.

WHAT IS IRON DOME SYSTEM AND WHAT DOES IT DO?

The ‘Iron Dome’ is ground-to-air short-range air defence system which intercepts incoming missiles, rockets and even Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and destroys them mid-air. The system, which has been standing guard since 2011, has been deployed across Israel for times like these. The defence system has a range of 70 kilometres.

Now, what did the ‘Iron Dome’ do during Hamas attack?

When Hamas fired 5,000 rockets from Gaza, the Detection and Tracking radar inside the Iron Dome detected the rockets in the air and sent the information to weapons control system which then performed quick calculation to detect the trajectory and possible target of the weapon. The threat was then destroyed which is seen in the viral video.

When the incoming threat is targeted towards a populated area, the in-built Missile Launcher fires the Tamir Missiles and destroys it mid-air.

How did Hamas still manage to breach the ‘Iron Dome’ cover?

In the midst of the Hamas assault, the 'Iron Dome' defense system faced an overwhelming barrage of 5,000 rockets in 20 minutes. While it destroyed many, avoiding hundreds of casualties, some of them managed to breach the cover and hit the Israeli territory.

Hamas said it had fired 5,000 rockets, while Israel reported some 3,000 incoming projectiles. Several bypassed the Iron Dome missile defence system and smashed into buildings as far as Tel Aviv.

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Updated: 08 Oct 2023, 08:38 PM IST