Israel claims Iron Dome is 99% effective

Speaking at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs conference today, Yuval Steinitz, Chairman of Israel’s state defense corporation Rafael, said the Iron Dome system is 99% effective in blocking rockets and missiles from the armed group Hamas in Gaza and the Hezbollah group in Lebanon.

“Iron Dome has intercepted most targets with a success rate that, although not yet 100%, is close to that level. The rate is about 98% and even 99%, not perfect but almost absolute,” he said.

Rafael is the main manufacturer of the Iron Dome system and provides a number of components for the Arrow complex, one of Israel’s air defense systems capable of long-range interception.

The statement was made by Steinitz a day after Hezbollah posted a video recording a first-person drone (FPV drone) attacking the Iron Dome air defense complex in northern Israel.

In the video recorded on May 7, the drone flew low to the ground before turning and crashing straight into the Israeli Iron Dome missile complex. The complex was shielded behind a concrete barrier, but the UAV approached from an unprotected direction. The video cuts off the moment the UAV appears to hit the target.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later issued a statement confirming the attack, adding that one soldier was seriously injured and another was moderately injured. “The raid did not have any impact on the system’s functionality or interception capabilities,” the IDF said.

Mr. Steinitz said that since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 led to a multi-front conflict, Hamas and Hezbollah have launched about 40,000 projectiles into Israeli territory. Meanwhile, Iran has launched about 1,500 ballistic missiles at Israel in fighting since 2024, and “only a few dozen” have missed the air defense net.

Leader Rafael affirmed that Israel does not face a shortage of interceptor missiles, amid much information that its air defense stockpile, especially long-range Arrow interceptor missiles, has been depleted due to fighting with Iran. Arrow missiles are products manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

Last month, Israel approved a plan to speed up production of Arrow missiles, just days before the ceasefire with Iran was announced and took effect on April 8.

Over the years, Israel’s Iron Dome has proven effective in intercepting targets such as rockets and mortars, but the system appears vulnerable to low-altitude threats such as drones, which Hezbollah increasingly uses, according to Charbel Mallo and Oren Liebermann, two commentators for the CNN.

Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had launched a “special project” to deal with the drone threat. He admitted “it will take time, but we are working on it”.