BICOM

Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak left Israel today for discussions with US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, aimed in part at procuring new funds for the Iron Dome missile defence system.

 

Barak’s meeting with Panetta on 17 May is intended to include an agreement on more US funding for the Israeli-made Iron Dome system, according to an Israeli ministry official that spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity. The defence chiefs will also confer on regional security issues, such as Iran, the official said.

 

Last week the US House Armed Services Committee voted to authorise as much as $680 million (£425 million) in new funding for the Iron Dome system from 2012 to 2015.

 

The Iron Dome missile defence system went into operation a year ago, and has proved extremely effective – intercepting over 90 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip since April 2011. The IDF plans for the deployment of 13-14 batteries to effectively defend critical infrastructure and population centres from short-range rockets fired from Gaza and Lebanon.

 

One such population centre is Eilat, which the Jerusalem Post reports this morning is being considered by the IDF as a location for the deployment of an upcoming Iron Dome battery, if rocket fire emanating from the Sinai targeting the Red Sea resort town continues. In April, terrorists fired at least one Katyusha rocket from the Sinai Peninsula into Eilat.

 

The IDF currently operate four Iron Dome batteries and plans to deploy an additional two within the coming year.