Israeli naval Iron Dome anti-missile system successfully tested at sea

Israel’s Defense Ministry announced on Monday that the “Protective Dome” system, a naval anti-missile system based on the battle-proven Iron Dome system, has been successfully tested for the first time on board the INS Magen, the Israeli Navy’s German-built state-of-the-art Sa’ar-6 corvette. 

The Protective Dome system is developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, one of Israel’s leading military technology companies. The successful test reportedly simulated a variety of growing threats such as cruise missiles, drones and rockets. 

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz congratulated the Jewish state’s defense establishment on the successful naval anti-missile system test. 

“The technology that we are developing in the multi-layered defense system of the State of Israel, allows us vital freedom of action vis-à-vis Iranian emissaries in the region and the means at their disposal, which are evolving,” Gantz said. “We continue to be two steps ahead of them and will continue to act and upgrade our capabilities in defense and attack, in order to protect Israel's security superiority in the region, the citizens of Israel and the Israeli economy.”

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also commended “the development of advanced technologies that enable us to protect our citizens.” 

The prime minister stressed that the new Protective Dome system would become a crucial component in Israel’s overall defense capabilities. 

“The system will be an important layer in Israel’s security envelope,” Bennett said. 

Brig.-General Dr. Daniel Gold who heads the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Technological Infrastructure (Maf'at) organization, hailed the successful cooperation between the defense ministry and the Israel Defense Forces. 

“The success of this experiment is another technological breakthrough in the field of missile defense systems, thanks to a technological vision led by Maf'at in cooperation with the IDF and the defense industries,” Gold said. 

Moshe Fattal, a senior official at the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research & Development, stressed the technological capabilities of the new naval anti-missile system. 

“By means of the powerful radar that was developed specially for the protection mission, the system successfully identified the threats launched at it, rockets, cruise missiles, and UAVs, and, on the high seas, fired naval Iron Dome interceptors at them, which destroyed them with perfect accuracy,” Fattal said. 

While the Israeli Navy is comparatively small and receives far less attention than the vaunted Israel Air Force, it is considered among the most sophisticated and capable navies in the Mediterranean and Middle East regions. 

Once it is operational, the Protective Dome anti-missile system is expected to dramatically boost the Israeli Navy’s defensive capabilities. During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah succeeded in striking the Israeli Navy ship INS Hanit with an anti-ship missile, killing four Israeli crew members and seriously damaged the ship. While the ship was repaired and is back in service, the Hezbollah naval attack remains a traumatic experience for the Israeli Navy that it seeks to avoid repeating.

The Israeli Navy has expanded significantly in recent years out of a necessity to meet growing naval threats from Iranian-led forces in the region. In addition, the Israeli Navy has been tasked to protect Israel’s multi-billion dollar gas deposits off the Israeli Mediterranean coast. In September 2021, Israel received the fourth advanced Sa’ar 6 corvette warship from Germany. 

Hezbollah and its Iranian patron’s missile capabilities have expanded considerably since 2006, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. In addition, the Iranian regime and its proxies such as Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen increasingly use sophisticated drones as means to launch attacks against the Jewish state and Sunni Arab throughout the Middle East.

Israel has reportedly initiated regional cooperation, which could potentially develop into a full-fledged Arab-Israeli alliance against the growing missile and suicide drone threat posed by the ayatollah regime in Tehran and its regional terrorist proxies.