US Army selects Dynetics air defense system over Iron Dome
The Enduring Shield system was chosen even though its development is only expected to be completed in about two years. The surprising decision came just a few days after the U.S. Army conducted a successful live-fire test of Iron Dome, considered a combat-proven system with high success rates
Eyal Boguslavsky
| 30/08/2021
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IDF_Air_Defense_fighters_during_Operation_Guardian_of_the_Walls,_May_2021._I.jpg
Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has lost a competition to supply air defense systems to the American military. The U.S. Army chose Dynetics to build prototypes for its system to counter both drone and cruise missile threats. The decision came after the Army held a shoot-off that pitted Dynetics against a Rafael and Raytheon Technologies team last month at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
The Defense News website reported that Rafael offered the Iron Dome system with the Tamir interceptor, while Dynetics (which teamed with Raytheon in this project) presented the Enduring Shield system together with Raytheon's AIM-9X Sidewinder interceptor.
The decision is surprising in light of a successful live-fire test of the Iron Dome system conducted by the U.S. Army only a few days ago. Beyond that, Iron Dome is considered a combat-proven system with high success rates, while the competing system is not ready yet, with its development only expected to be completed in about two years, and it is much more expensive than Iron Dome.
Those factors could serve as a basis for an appeal by Rafael and its partner Raytheon. However, Israel's Globes website reported that an appeal is not highly likely due to the fact that Raytheon is also a partner of Dynetics, so in fact it won anyway.
The Enduring Shield system was chosen even though its development is only expected to be completed in about two years. The surprising decision came just a few days after the U.S. Army conducted a successful live-fire test of Iron Dome, considered a combat-proven system with high success rates
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IDF_Air_Defense_fighters_during_Operation_Guardian_of_the_Walls,_May_2021._I.jpg
Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has lost a competition to supply air defense systems to the American military. The U.S. Army chose Dynetics to build prototypes for its system to counter both drone and cruise missile threats. The decision came after the Army held a shoot-off that pitted Dynetics against a Rafael and Raytheon Technologies team last month at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
The Defense News website reported that Rafael offered the Iron Dome system with the Tamir interceptor, while Dynetics (which teamed with Raytheon in this project) presented the Enduring Shield system together with Raytheon's AIM-9X Sidewinder interceptor.
The decision is surprising in light of a successful live-fire test of the Iron Dome system conducted by the U.S. Army only a few days ago. Beyond that, Iron Dome is considered a combat-proven system with high success rates, while the competing system is not ready yet, with its development only expected to be completed in about two years, and it is much more expensive than Iron Dome.
Those factors could serve as a basis for an appeal by Rafael and its partner Raytheon. However, Israel's Globes website reported that an appeal is not highly likely due to the fact that Raytheon is also a partner of Dynetics, so in fact it won anyway.
