In an interview with a senior Defense Ministry official, an unusual move was revealed in part of the production process of the advanced anti-rocket weapon, which saved the lives of hundreds of the country's citizens.
Iron Dome Interceptor Missile // Photo "Raphael Spokeswoman
"I do not want to create the illusion that the Iron Dome system, which we are deploying for the first time today, will provide a complete or comprehensive solution," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers on March 27, 2011.
"The system is still in an experimental stage and in any case we cannot deploy batteries that we can protect any home, school, base or facility."
It was a period of massive firing at Israel, and the people of the south lived in immense fear.
Ten days later, on April 7, 2011, the Iron Dome system made history and first intercepted a Grad rocket.
This was the beginning of a revolution that is taking place to this day.
"This is a project of my life," recalls Michal, head of the land plan at Rafael, which accompanied the Iron Dome project from 2008, three years before it became operational.
"I accompanied this project, as a system engineer (command and control) from its earliest days and in fact experienced all its development, from the initial planning and execution stages, and its implementation in the field during which we underwent security escalations in which we were in constant contact and provided support 24 hours a day.
At no point did I have any doubt that the system would give the appropriate answer.
"On the first day of the interception, we were on a formation day at the karting of the Iron Dome project partners," she says with a smile.
"I was off the track. I got a call from a friend, whose friend is serving in the Iron Dome and he first told me the news, a moment after the interception. Of course I jumped the rest off the track with great excitement, and after celebrating the interception with a festive meal, we went to the institute to see videos .
It is difficult to overstate the importance of the Iron Dome system.
Unlike other blue and white systems, such as a windbreaker or chariot tank, the Iron Dome is the dome that protects our lives indirectly.
This is not about defending soldiers, attacking in the depths of the enemy or fighting the borders, but about defending Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beer Sheva and Rishon Lezion, the largest cities in Israel that are under threat from missiles.
The Iron Dome, which was pushed by then-Defense Minister Amir Peretz, has to this day saved the lives of many Israelis in the full sense of the word.
The huge threat of the missiles on Israeli cities was replaced with peace and quiet even in moments of alarm or war, such as the event that took place on Election Day in Be'er Sheva.
There are those who guard us from above.
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of making the Iron Dome system operational, we were approved in an extraordinary move and under strict censorship and information security guidelines to publish individual details on the process of developing the system.
The photos published in this article have also undergone many reviews in order not to reveal classified details that could harm state security.
Iron Dome systems, numbers in "Raphael" are complex in a factory in the north of the country whose details are not allowed to be published.
"The assembly of the system is done entirely in Israel," explains Shlomo Toaf, Rafael's vice president, who heads the director of short-term air defense systems.
Unlike other systems, the entire Iron Dome system was developed with Israeli funds, but when the Ministry of Defense and Rafael went into serial production, they were assisted by American funding.
In return, Israel undertook to produce fifty percent of the ingredients in the United States.
The various parts of the Iron Dome are created in 22 different countries in the United States, and these are shipped to Israel and assembled at a factory in the north.
"The parts are manufactured in different places and we collect the relevant basket of components, bring it here and assemble them into a perfect system. Rafael is the largest employer in the north of the country and it is not least thanks to the Iron Dome."
Technological leap
Admittedly, a decade has passed since the operational operation of the system, but over the years it has been upgraded in response to field threats so that it is far from outdated.
The hardware, say the Ministry of Defense, has not changed and these are the same missiles and the same systems.
The software, the beating heart of the system, has made tremendous leaps and bounds that significantly improve the security of the residents of the State of Israel.
Last month, a wall manager at Mapat in the Ministry of Defense and Rafael announced another technological leap in dealing with combined threats. Hezbollah is expected to fire hundreds of missiles every day in the Israeli defense, and in a future war in the north. The IDF also faces a clear threat from cruise missiles against strategic facilities.
"The Iron Dome system has the ability to operate in front of cruise missiles, handwriting and more.
We are prepared in the entire defense system against all types of threats that exist and will be in the arena.
"We are talking about threats that do not yet exist in the field, and will enter in the coming months," says Moshe Fattal, head of the wall for Israel Today, in a rare interview. is very.
We are constantly ahead of our enemies. "
Today, says Fattal, Israeli air defense systems are interconnected and closely connected.
"For that matter, the arrow transmits to the Iron Dome and the magic wand, and so each of the systems is prepared. On one battle day or another we give the operator full flexibility to decide whether to operate one system or another. The citizen can be calm and know that the State of Israel is doing everything possible to be "Ready for the next wars. You can never say that there is a hermetic, but our response in quality and quantity is more significant and broad than it has been in the past. We are constantly working to get the most prepared for the next war."
The defense establishment is currently working on a laser system to neutralize and intercept missiles, and this will be added to the Iron Dome system.
"When there is a laser capability for the State of Israel one day, it will be part of the Iron Dome system. We do not freeze on the yeast and Iron Dome will stay with us for many years to come. We are constantly looking ahead, expanding and improving in the face of threats in the arena."
"There was no system capable of intercepting rockets and mortar shells before, and this success gave the citizens of Israel an unimaginable sense of security," Toaf boasts of the Israeli system.
In recent years he has served in the senior position and is responsible, among other things, for the Iron Dome system.
"We are in an ongoing revolution. We are constantly examining the systems and upgrading them. It should be understood - our capabilities are completely different from those in 2011. We are constantly busy assessing the threat and adapting it to the relevant situation."
"When we first unveiled the system they laughed at us, saying it's not possible, but we're the ones who laugh last. It's hard for me to imagine how civilian life would have gone on in recent operations without these systems. "We found the rules of the game. We found a cure that allows us to continue living alongside the fact that there are those who are constantly trying to harm our citizens in the home front," he adds.
"What is very special about this project is the endless dedication of these people out of a great motif of Zionism and an understanding that this is a life-saving system," says Michal.
"Even now the system continues to evolve, we have new goals and further developments. Our enemy is not resting for a moment, it is evolving and we continue to provide responses to the new demands."
"The last word has not yet been said, and in the next three years we will see a major development that will bounce the system to the next generation," Toaff concludes.
"Unfortunately, the number of threats against us is not small, and I am glad that the Iron Dome can reach wherever it is needed and save human lives. It is a great privilege that has fallen in our lives to give security to the people of Israel, and the sense of mission accompanies us all the time. Generation after generation rise up against us for our brides and Gd saves us from them.
We have the right to be a part of this rescue. "