Priyanka Tiwari
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The Israeli army claimed it has destroyed an aerial missile early Thursday aimed toward Yemen, claiming it exploded well before entering Israeli borders. During missile interception explosions were heard from Jerusalem.» Jerusalem reported no causalities from the missile strikes. According to Houthis, ballistic missiles were aimed toward Israeli international airports and this was the second attempt since the US altered its airstrike policy against the rebels earlier this week.
As we know, throughout the decades Israel has been refining and creating new systems to missiles especially intercepting missiles aimed toward its densely populated cities or critical infrastructure. According to Israeli leaders, while the protective system does have its loopholes, it has definitely lessened the projectile damage and severe civilian injuries that could have happened.
Let us take a deeper look in to the multilayered airspace control system which Israel implements: With development aid from the US, Israel created Arrow, a defense system used to intercept long ranged missiles. The Arrow, which intercepts missiles outside of Earth’s atmosphere, has actively prevented long range missiles from the Houthis and Iran during direct combat last year.
David’s Sling: Like in many other defense projects, Israel cooperated alongside the United States in developing this system. David’s Sling was constructed to intercept medium-range missiles, like the ones Hezbollah possesses in Lebanon, and has been deployed multiple times throughout the war.
Iron Dome: This system is one of many that has been developed by Israel with aid from the US. It is specialized in intercepting short range rockets, of which thousands have been shot down since the beginning of its activation early in the last decade. It has intercepted the rockets sent by Hamas and Hezbollah during the ongoing war. Israel claims that this system has a success rate that exceeds 90%.
Iron Beam: Israel is currently developing a new system that incorporates laser technology with the intention of it being used as a means to intercept them. Israel has said that this system will be a game changer because its operational cost will be drastically lesser. Israeli media estimates that one interception by the Iron Dome is roughly $50,000 while the other systems can surpass $2,000,000 for each missile. On the other hand, Israeli officials claim that the cost for intercepting an Iron Beam would only be a few dollars. This system is still not operational however, so the claims remain unverified.
