After the great success of Operation Protective Edge, the US military decided to purchase one battery of the Iron Dome missile defense system manufactured by Rafael, and based on the tests, it will decide whether to acquire several such systems. If the Pentagon decides to acquire the system, it could protect American sites in high-risk areas around the world.
The "Iron Dome" system is considered an extraordinary technological achievement, and the Americans are showing great interest in it precisely because at the beginning they did not believe in its chances of success; this is also the reason why the Americans were not partners in financing the development of the system, unlike other missile defense projects - the "Arrow" missile systems for long-range missiles and the "Magic Wand" system for defense against medium-range missiles and aircraft.
The development and acquisition of the first two Iron Dome batteries came from the Defense Ministry's budget, but since then the United States has funded all of Israel's acquisition of the system, with a special budget outside of security assistance funds.
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As part of the cooperation between the countries, an agreement was recently reached between the Israeli company Rafael, which developed Iron Dome, and the American company Raytheon, on the joint production of Iron Dome batteries on United States soil, which will enable the system to be equipped with aid funds, funds that are used for Israeli military procurement only from American companies.
