Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump promises to build a missile defense system for the United States modeled on Israel’s Iron Dome, a correspondent for the Kazinform news agency reports.
Previously, in a 90-minute speech at the Republican Party Convention, Donald Trump mentioned the need to build an “Iron Dome” in the United States modeled on the Israeli system.
Israel has a missile defense system. “342 missiles were fired at Israel, and only one narrowly missed,” said Donald Trump, referring to the Iranian missile attack on Israel in April.
“Why should other countries have this and we don’t? No, we are going to put an iron dome over our country and make sure nothing comes in and harms our people,” Donald Trump said.
Opponents of this idea point out that it is unclear what threat Donald Trump wants to prevent, since the “Iron Dome” is only capable of intercepting short-range missiles – a threat that the USA has never faced on its borders.
However, the U.S. military has already purchased two Iron Dome batteries to counter cruise missiles and protect U.S. assets in contested areas. By defending maneuver forces as well as population centers and strategic assets, Iron Dome tackles multiple threats simultaneously and operates 24/7 in all weather conditions, including rain, dust storms, fog, and low clouds. The system assesses the trajectory of an approaching threat and determines if an interception is necessary. If so, it destroys the target in the air with a 90% success rate.
The Iron Dome is a multi-purpose air and missile defense system that integrates the capabilities of Short-Range Air Defense (SHORAD) – protection against low-altitude air threats, primarily helicopters and low-flying aircraft –, Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar Defense (C-RAM), and defense against cruise missiles.
The Israeli weapons manufacturer Rafael is working with the American defense company Raytheon in a joint venture in the USA – Raytheon Rafael Area Protection Systems (R2S) – to produce the Iron Dome in America. Currently, 70% of the military components for the system are manufactured in the USA, and there are plans to manufacture the Iron Dome weapons 100% locally.
From 2011 to 2021, the United States has allocated a total of around $2.6 billion to build the Iron Dome in Israel, which is considered relatively modest compared to the American Patriot missile defense system, where one battery costs $1.1 billion.
It is important to note that U.S. military spending has increased under both the Trump and Biden administrations. Pentagon spending supports an entire industry made up of tens of thousands of private companies. Annually, more than half of the U.S. military budget flows to the private sector through federal contracts. Of the $14.5 trillion the Pentagon spent in fiscal years 2002 through 2021, 55 percent went to military contractors.
The profits of many of these companies depend heavily on government subsidies. For this reason, defense companies invest considerable sums in influencing the political system.
Defense industry donations to federal candidates tripled between the 2002 and 2020 election cycles. In total, military contractors spent a staggering $283 million on candidates and political parties from 2001 to 2020, with donations split fairly evenly between Democratic and Republican candidates.
It can therefore be assumed that Donald Trump’s election campaign, by initiating the creation of an “Iron Dome” in the USA, aims to gain the support of the arms industry lobby and outmaneuver his political opponents from the Democratic Party.
