Newest missile-defense cannon first to be manned solely by reserves soldiers; six more Iron Domes planned
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The newest battery is the first to be operated solely by reserves soldiers and is part of a plan to introduce further reserves “one after another,” according to Col. Zvika Haimovitch, the commander of the IAF’s Aerial Defense Division’s Active Defense Wing.
“This weekend we introduced an additional Iron Dome battery, based on reserves manpower, which will protect the citizens of Israel in times of emergency,” Haimovitch told the army’s weekly Bamahaneh magazine.
The short-range, air-defense system was first introduced in March 2011, after years of contemplation and deep-seated reluctance to both the concept and the notion of an expensive rocket-defense system.
In Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, however, the IDF’s five Iron Dome batteries intercepted 86 percent of the 421 rockets flying toward populated areas — far surpassing virtually all expectations — “and dramatically changing the face of the campaign,” according to then-defense minister Ehud Barak.
Full article: IDF deploys sixth Iron Dome battery (The Jerusalem Post)
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