Scenes of missiles intercepted in the air in Israeli cities in recent days have drawn attention to Israel’s anti-missile system, which it says is capable of containing 90 percent of projectiles fired at the country.
The technology involves the use of three missile systems. The most cited of these is the Iron Dome, in operation since 2011. They all use artifacts capable of tracking other projectiles and firing them into the air, before they reach their targets.
Israel has ten such missile batteries, according to data from the University of Navarre’s Global Affair Strategic Studies. They are positioned close to Israeli cities and other strategic areas, and each has the capacity to protect an area of approximately 150 km².
The equipment uses three types of projectiles, capable of attacking targets at short, medium and long distances.
In recent years, advances in artificial intelligence have increased the system’s ability to track and calculate the trajectories of enemy missiles, thereby increasing the accuracy of interceptions. To reduce expenses, if the system determines that the missile is heading towards an uninhabited area, it is not shot down. See below for more details on how this barrier works.