JERUSALEM — The U.S. Marine Corps has successfully tested an air-defense package incorporating Israel’s Iron Dome Tamir missile, according to Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
“This test has proven the Iron Dome Tamir interceptor and associated ground components can be integrated quickly and efficiently in any relevant defense architecture and intercept various aerial threats successfully in complex and advanced scenarios,” said Moshe Patel, the head of the Israel Missile Defense Organization.
According to a statement from the Israel Ministry of Defense, the test involved the Marine Corps’ Medium-Range Intercept Capability (MRIC) prototype hitting several simultaneously-launched cruise missile representative targets coming from different directions and angles at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
“At its peak, numerous in-air targets, each with its own unique flight trajectory and velocity, surrounded the MRIC prototype,” a Marine Corps statement reads. “Upon firing, MRIC successfully hit each target using the Tamir missile.”
Patel said Israel “looks forward to further partnerships with the U.S. armed forces on Air and Missile Defense.” The most recent test followed another one that took place in December 2021.
Iron Dome maker Rafael said in a statement that the test results were in line with prior simulations done by Marine Corps analysts.
Shachar Shohat, a vice president at the company, told Defense News that the Tamir interceptor can easily be integrated with other radar and command and control systems. The system’s open architecture capability enables the interceptor, which called SkyHunter in the U.S. military under a joint venture with Raytheon, to be plugged into various setups, he explained.
Rafael was contracted for the engineering and adaptation of Iron Dome to Marine Corps requirements and associated testing support. The Tamir interceptor is capable of shooting down cruise missiles, unmanned aerial systems, rockets, artillery, and mortar threats, the Israel Ministry of Defense said.
Seth J. Frantzman is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has covered conflict in the Mideast since 2010 for different publications. He has experience covering the international coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and he is a co-founder and executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis.
