US agrees to send two Iron Dome batteries to Israel

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon plans to send Israel two Iron Dome missile defense systems as the country continues to fight the militant group Hamas, according to a U.S. Defense Department official.

The transfer will aid Israel’s air defense after Hamas on Oct. 7 launched a massive, coordinated attack — making it the deadliest day for Israel in 50 years. Some 1,400 Israelis have since been killed, and Hamas continues to fire rockets from the Gaza strip.

“As we’ve said previously, the U.S. will be flowing additional Iron Dome support to Israel,” the official said. “As a result, the Department of Defense is currently engaged in planning to support the provision of U.S. Iron Dome batteries to Israel.”

The U.S. Army bought the two Iron Dome systems — manufactured by Israeli defense company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and co-developed by RTX — at the request of Congress several years ago. The purchase was meant to fill a gap in cruise missile defense while the Army developed a longer-term countermeasure for various air and missile threats. But the service doesn’t plan to purchase more Iron Domes or to integrate the system into its air defense architecture, Army officials have told Defense News.

It has scarcely used the two batteries it has. Army personnel trained with the Iron Dome systems at Fort Bliss, Texas , before one system deployed to Guam at the end of 2021 for a two-week exercise. Otherwise, the systems have sat with a unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

The official, speaking on background to discuss the transfer, did not specify under what arrangement the batteries will be provided, nor did the official say whether the batteries will be returned to the U.S. should they survive combat.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently announced the Defense Department is also deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery and Patriot air defense battalions to the region.

By providing Iron Domes, the U.S. continues to widen the spigot of security aid entering Israel. In the week after Hamas’ attack, Pentagon and Israeli officials announced the arrival of American aircraft stocked with air defense supplies and munitions. It has since expanded this aid to include artillery rounds, armored vehicles and precision-guided munitions, according to Israeli and American officials.

The supply effort is just one stream in a larger outpouring of American support.

One carrier strike group — led by the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford — has already deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean. Another is on its way to the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, a Marine expeditionary unit and 2,000 troops are readying themselves to deploy within a day if given orders by the White House, said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.

Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden have all visited the country, pledging continued U.S. support. In a nighttime address from the Oval Office, the president asked Congress for more than $100 billion in supplemental security aid, including $14.3 billion for Israel. The aid so far has not come with conditions that Israel limit civilian casualties.

Still, U.S. officials in the last week have publicly called on its closest Middle Eastern ally to obey the laws of war. As Israel retaliates, some 5,000 people in Gaza have been killed so far, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas.

With more than 2,000 rockets intercepted, Iron Dome is among the most statistically successful air defense system in the world, said Tom Karako, director of the missile defense project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

“This is a system that was built to defend [against] certain kinds of threats, especially the kinds of threats that Israel is facing,” Karako said.

Each battery consists of three main parts: a radar, a command-and-control system, and the launchers that fire interceptors. Each of these, Karako argued, will be useful for Israel, as extra radars will increase their ability to detect threats, while more launchers and command-and-control technology will help defend more Israeli territory from rocket fire.

Should the war widen beyond the Gaza strip, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has tens of thousands of rockets it could fire, said Karako.

This week, Israel’s military said its aircraft had struck two Hezbollah cells, which the country said were preparing to launch rockets across the border.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Defense News. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, national security, international affairs and politics in Washington since 2014. He has also written for Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS News.

Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.

华盛顿——据美国国防部一名官员透露，五角大楼计划向以色列提供两套“铁穹”导弹防御系统，以帮助该国继续打击武装组织哈马斯。

此次物资转移将有助于以色列加强防空能力。10月7日，哈马斯发动了大规模协同攻击，使之成为以色列50年来伤亡最惨重的一天。迄今为止，约有1400名以色列人丧生，哈马斯仍在继续从加沙地带发射火箭弹。

“正如我们之前所说，美国将向以色列提供更多‘铁穹’防御系统支持，”这位官员表示。“因此，国防部目前正在制定计划，以支持向以色列提供美国‘铁穹’防御系统。”

几年前，应国会要求，美国陆军购买了两套“铁穹”系统——由以色列国防公司拉斐尔先进防御系统公司制造，并由RTX公司联合开发。此次采购旨在填补巡航导弹防御方面的空白，同时陆军也在研发针对各种空中和导弹威胁的长期应对措施。但陆军官员告诉《防务新闻》，陆军没有计划购买更多“铁穹”系统，也没有计划将其整合到现有的防空体系中。

它几乎没有使用过这两套系统。陆军人员曾在德克萨斯州布利斯堡接受过“铁穹”系统的训练，之后其中一套系统于2021年底部署到关岛进行为期两周的演习。其余时间，这些系统一直存放在华盛顿州刘易斯-麦科德联合基地的一个部队中。

这位官员在匿名讨论此次转让事宜时，没有具体说明电池将以何种方式提供，也没有说明如果这些电池在战斗中幸存下来是否会归还给美国。

美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀近日宣布，国防部还将向该地区部署末段高空区域防御系统（THAAD）连和爱国者防空营。

通过提供“铁穹”防御系统，美国持续扩大对以色列的安全援助渠道。在哈马斯发动袭击后的一周内，五角大楼和以色列官员宣布，满载防空物资和弹药的美国飞机已经抵达。据以色列和美国官员称，此后援助范围扩大，新增了炮弹、装甲车和精确制导武器。

这项物资供应行动只是美国大规模援助行动中的一个方面。

由美国海军“杰拉尔德·R·福特”号航空母舰率领的一个航母打击群已部署至东地中海。另一个航母打击群正在前往波斯湾的途中。与此同时，五角大楼发言人萨布丽娜·辛格表示，一支海军陆战队远征部队和2000名士兵正在做好准备，如果接到白宫的命令，一天之内即可部署。

美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯、总统乔·拜登和美国副总统奥斯汀都曾访问以色列，并承诺美国将继续提供支持。总统在椭圆形办公室发表夜间讲话，要求国会提供超过1000亿美元的补充安全援助，其中包括向以色列提供143亿美元。迄今为止，这些援助并未附加以色列限制平民伤亡的条件。

尽管如此，美国官员上周仍公开呼吁其在中东最亲密的盟友遵守战争法。据哈马斯控制的加沙卫生部称，在以色列的报复行动中，加沙已有约5000人丧生。

战略与国际研究中心导弹防御项目主任汤姆·卡拉科表示，“铁穹”系统已拦截超过2000枚火箭弹，是世界上统计上最成功的防空系统之一。

卡拉科说：“这是一个旨在防御某些类型威胁，特别是以色列目前面临的那种威胁的系统。”

每个导弹防御系统由三个主要部分组成：雷达、指挥控制系统和拦截导弹发射器。卡拉科认为，这些对以色列都很有用，因为额外的雷达将提高以色列探测威胁的能力，而更多的发射器和指挥控制技术将有助于防御更多以色列领土免受火箭弹袭击。

卡拉科表示，如果战争蔓延到加沙地带以外，黎巴嫩真主党武装组织拥有数万枚火箭弹可以发射。

本周，以色列军方表示，其战机袭击了两个真主党据信正在准备向边境发射火箭弹的小组。

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。

布莱恩特·哈里斯是《防务新闻》的国会记者。自2014年以来，他一直在华盛顿报道美国外交政策、国家安全、国际事务和政治。他还曾为《外交政策》、《Al-Monitor》、《半岛电视台英语频道》和IPS新闻撰稿。

珍·贾德森是一位屡获殊荣的记者，为《防务新闻》报道陆地战争。她也曾为《政治报》和《内幕防务》工作。她拥有波士顿大学新闻学硕士学位和凯尼恩学院文学学士学位。