Rafael Tamir / Raytheon SkyHunter
Beginning around 2006, the Israeli company Rafael developed the Iron Dome short-range rocket and missile defense system. The primary purpose was the defense against "Qassam"-type rockets fired from Lebanon or Gaza into Israel. The first Iron Dome batteries became operational in 2011, and since then, thousands of rockets have been successfully intercepted and destroyed. A success rate of more than 90% has been quoted.
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| Photo: Israel Defense Forces |
| Iron Dome launcher / Tamir missile |
An Iron Dome battery consists of an Israel Aerospace Industries Elta EL/M-2084 multimission radar, a fire control center and three to four launchers, each carrying 20 interceptor missiles. The missile itself is named Tamir. It is powered by a solid rocket motor, has a datalink for mid-course updates from the fire control center, an active radar seeker for terminal homing, and a proximity-fuzed warhead. It can intercept rockets and artillery shells fired from about 4-70 km away.
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| Image: Rafael |
| Tamir |
Rafael has teamed up with Raytheon to build and market the Iron Dome system in the USA. Raytheon has adopted the name SkyHunter for the Tamir missile. In the 2019/21 time frame, the U.S. Army acquired two Iron Dome batteries and a total of 480 missiles for test and evaluation as an interim air defense system. One major objective of the tests was to integrate Iron Dome into the Army's air defense infrastructure. This didn't work entirely to the Army's satisfaction, reportedly also because Israel didn't want to share some proprietary technological secrets, like the software source code. In 2020, it was announced that the Army wouldn't purchase any additional Iron Dome assets.
In 2023, the U.S. Marine Corps announced plans to acquire three Iron Dome batteries and 1840 Tamir/SkyHunter missiles for its MRIC (Medium-Range Intercept Capability) requirement. The operational fielding of the first battery is planned for 2025.
Designation Note: It is possible, that the out-of-sequence MDS designation MIM-147A has been assigned to the USMC's Tamir/SkyHunter missiles, but this must be regarded as unconfirmed.
Specifications
Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!
Data for Tamir:
| Length | 3 m (10 ft) |
| Diameter | 16 cm (6.3 in) |
| Weight | 90 kg (200 lb) |
| Speed | Mach 2.2 |
| Ceiling | ? |
| Range | 70 km (45 miles) |
| Propulsion | Solid-propellant rocket |
Main Sources
[1] Wikipedia: Iron Dome
[2] Raytheon:
Iron Dome System and SkyHunter Missile
[3] Naval News:
USMC's MRIC 'Iron Dome' Will Provide Much Needed Air Defense
[4] The War Zone, Joseph Trevithick:
USMC Buying Nearly
2,000 Tamir Interceptors For Its Iron Dome Systems
Back to Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 4
Last Updated: 3 August 2024