October 7, 2023 – The renowned Israeli defense system called “Iron Dome,” known for its advanced abilities to intercept missiles, faced an unexpected challenge. Despite its historical success rate of 90%, the system was overwhelmed by a massive missile attack from the Palestinian group Hamas, which is based in Gaza.
Israel, facing unique national security issues, has long focused on developing highly effective defensive technologies. The “Iron Dome” is recognized as the world’s leading missile defense system. However, on October 7, 2023, Israel was caught off guard by a large-scale missile assault launched by Hamas. The group fired several thousand missiles at various targets across Israel, managing to breach the Israeli defense and causing significant damage.
The primary reason for the inefficiency of Israel’s defensive strategy is simply a matter of numbers. While Hamas released several thousand missiles, Israel had fewer than a thousand interceptors ready to counter them. Even if the Iron Dome were 100% effective, a large number of Hamas missiles would still have penetrated through Israel’s defense.
The missiles launched by Hamas cost around $600 each, making them approximately 100 times cheaper than the Iron Dome interceptors. The total cost for Israel from launching all of its interceptors is estimated to be around 48 million US dollars.
This incident highlights the urgent need for air defense systems that possess two critical features: a larger arsenal of defensive weapons and a reduction in the cost per unit of these weapons.