TIL That each missile fired by Israels Iron Dome cost anywhere between 40k to 50k US per missile
TIL That each missile fired by Israels Iron Dome cost anywhere between 40k to 50k US per missile
The highly sophisticated, multibillion-dollar defense system has been under constant redevelopment since its inception in the early 2000s. Here's how it works.
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It's expensive AF to operate which is why Israel has been working hard on "Iron Beam", which uses lasers instead of missiles, to supplement it and reduce the cost of operation. Iron Beam is supposed to become active in 2025.
Ukraine doesn't have Iron Dome because of cost and scale. Israel is 22,145 square kilometers while Ukraine is 603,628 square kilometers. It probably cost 10 Billion to build an Israel sized Iron Dome so a Ukraine sized one would cost upwards of $300 Billion and operating the thing would like be a billion dollars a month for active combat.
As an aside the United States also has ground based directed energy weapons. There's even a 50KW mobile version built on the Stryker platform called DE M-SHORAD. 100KW+ versions are supposed to be rolling out next year.
I hate war and all of that, but shooting missiles with Lasers sounds really fucking cool
Iron Beam sounds like the Temu version of Iron Dome