Israel yesterday intercepted an enemy rocket headed toward the city of Ashkelon, 10 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, the country’s defense ministry said in a statement.
The intercept marked the first use of Iron Dome, a mobile air defense system developed by indigenous defense firm Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Iron Dome is designed to intercept very short-range rockets and artillery shells from up to 70 kilometers.
The system was created as a defensive countermeasure to the rocket threat against Israel’s civilian population on its northern and southern border and was declared operational in the first quarter of 2011.
The system was deployed last week and became operational on April 3.
Over the past several years, the United States has provided financial support to Israel for the development of the Iron Dome missile defense system.