Israel Expands Iron Dome Production Through Rafael Contract Funded by $8.7 Billion U.S. Aid
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
Israel has approved a multi-billion-dollar contract with Rafael to accelerate serial production of Iron Dome interceptors using funds from the 8.7 billion dollar U.S. aid package authorized in 2024. The deal replenishes expended Tamir stocks and expands joint U.S.-Israeli manufacturing capacity at a time of sustained rocket and drone threats.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced on 20 November 2025 that the country signed a multi-billion-dollar contract with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to expand serial production of the Iron Dome system. The agreement, concluded by the Directorate of Defense Research and Development and the Israel Missile Defense Organization, calls for Rafael to deliver a substantial quantity of interceptors to the ministry and the Israel Defense Forces. Israeli and international reporting state that the contract is financed from an 8.7 billion dollar United States aid package approved in April 2024, including 5.2 billion dollars earmarked for air and missile defense systems such as Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the Iron Beam laser.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The Israeli Ministry of Defense has signed a multi-billion-dollar contract with Rafael to accelerate large-scale production of Iron Dome interceptors, replenishing stockpiles after recent high-intensity engagements and expanding the system’s role within Israel’s layered air and missile defense network (Picture source: Rafael).
Iron Dome forms the lowest tier of Israel’s multi-layer air and missile defense architecture, providing mobile protection against rockets, artillery, and mortars fired from roughly 4 to 70 kilometers, along with selected cruise missile, precision munition, and unmanned aircraft threats. Declared operational in March 2011 and first deployed near Beersheba, the system quickly became the principal shield for Israeli population centers and critical infrastructure against rocket fire from Hamas and southern Lebanon. In the national construct, it sits beneath David’s Sling and the Arrow family, giving Israel a layered defense from low-altitude rockets up through long-range ballistic missiles.
A typical Iron Dome battery consists of the EL/M-2084 S-band active electronically scanned array radar produced by Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta division, a battle management and weapon control center from mPrest, and three to four remote launcher units. Each launcher carries up to twenty Tamir interceptors, giving a battery sixty to eighty ready missiles and the ability, when properly positioned, to defend an area of about 150 square kilometers. The radar detects launches, tracks trajectories, and feeds data to the command software, which estimates impact points and authorizes fire only against projectiles predicted to strike protected zones, an approach refined over time through repeated software and algorithm upgrades rather than extensive hardware changes.
At the center of the weapon system is the Tamir interceptor, a compact missile about three meters long and 160 millimeters in diameter, weighing roughly ninety kilograms at launch. Tamir combines command guidance via data link with an onboard seeker, with open sources describing an active radar seeker and electro-optical sensors that enable high-g maneuvering during the terminal phase. It carries a blast fragmentation warhead triggered by a proximity fuze to detonate close to the incoming rocket, shell, drone, or cruise missile, a design credited with thousands of successful combat intercepts and effectiveness rates above ninety percent against threats selected for engagement.
Since entering service, Iron Dome has been employed in every major round of fighting, from early operations over Gaza through the 2012 and 2014 campaigns, the May 2021 conflict, and the intense 2023 to 2025 Middle East war. During this period, Israel has faced sustained rocket, mortar, and drone fire from Gaza and Lebanon, and in April 2024, Iran and allied groups launched more than three hundred drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles toward Israeli territory in a single coordinated strike. In that event, Iron Dome operated as the lower tier of a wider defensive effort alongside David’s Sling and Arrow, thinning out shorter-range and residual threats while higher-tier systems tackled long-range ballistic missiles. The volume and duration of these engagements, together with frequent smaller salvos, have raised concerns about the pace at which Tamir stockpiles can be replenished relative to operational expenditure.
Against that backdrop, the new contract functions as both replenishment and expansion. The ministry’s statement highlights delivery of a substantial quantity of interceptors, while outside reporting links the order directly to the 5.2 billion dollar U.S. allocation dedicated to air and missile defense under the 8.7 billion dollar package, with Iron Dome identified as a principal beneficiary. In parallel, Rafael and Raytheon have opened an R2S joint venture facility in East Camden, Arkansas, established with a 33 million dollar investment to produce Tamir missiles for both Israeli Iron Dome batteries and the U.S. Marine Corps SkyHunter interceptor used in the Medium Range Intercept Capability program. The plant supports the Israel Missile Defense Organization within the Directorate of Defense Research and Development and is explicitly framed as part of the effort to accelerate serial production of Iron Dome interceptors, shifting a growing share of manufacturing to a joint U.S.-Israeli industrial base.
The Iron Dome expansion is also intertwined with Israel’s move toward directed energy. In late 2024, the ministry signed a separate agreement worth about two billion shekels with Rafael and Elbit Systems to scale up production of the Iron Beam high-power laser, intended to intercept rockets, mortars, drones, and cruise missiles at far lower cost per engagement than missile interceptors. Israeli officials expect Iron Beam to be co-located with Iron Dome batteries and integrated into their command and control network so that the laser can handle dense short-range salvos while Tamir missiles are reserved for more demanding threats. For Army Recognition’s readers, the result is clear: the latest multi-billion dollar contract locks in a multi-year production surge that restores interceptor depth after recent fighting, anchors a shared U.S.-Israeli supply chain for Tamir and SkyHunter, and reinforces Iron Dome’s position as a reference system in the global short-range air defense and counter rocket, artillery, and mortar market.
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
Israel has approved a multi-billion-dollar contract with Rafael to accelerate serial production of Iron Dome interceptors using funds from the 8.7 billion dollar U.S. aid package authorized in 2024. The deal replenishes expended Tamir stocks and expands joint U.S.-Israeli manufacturing capacity at a time of sustained rocket and drone threats.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced on 20 November 2025 that the country signed a multi-billion-dollar contract with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to expand serial production of the Iron Dome system. The agreement, concluded by the Directorate of Defense Research and Development and the Israel Missile Defense Organization, calls for Rafael to deliver a substantial quantity of interceptors to the ministry and the Israel Defense Forces. Israeli and international reporting state that the contract is financed from an 8.7 billion dollar United States aid package approved in April 2024, including 5.2 billion dollars earmarked for air and missile defense systems such as Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the Iron Beam laser.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The Israeli Ministry of Defense has signed a multi-billion-dollar contract with Rafael to accelerate large-scale production of Iron Dome interceptors, replenishing stockpiles after recent high-intensity engagements and expanding the system’s role within Israel’s layered air and missile defense network (Picture source: Rafael).
Iron Dome forms the lowest tier of Israel’s multi-layer air and missile defense architecture, providing mobile protection against rockets, artillery, and mortars fired from roughly 4 to 70 kilometers, along with selected cruise missile, precision munition, and unmanned aircraft threats. Declared operational in March 2011 and first deployed near Beersheba, the system quickly became the principal shield for Israeli population centers and critical infrastructure against rocket fire from Hamas and southern Lebanon. In the national construct, it sits beneath David’s Sling and the Arrow family, giving Israel a layered defense from low-altitude rockets up through long-range ballistic missiles.
A typical Iron Dome battery consists of the EL/M-2084 S-band active electronically scanned array radar produced by Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta division, a battle management and weapon control center from mPrest, and three to four remote launcher units. Each launcher carries up to twenty Tamir interceptors, giving a battery sixty to eighty ready missiles and the ability, when properly positioned, to defend an area of about 150 square kilometers. The radar detects launches, tracks trajectories, and feeds data to the command software, which estimates impact points and authorizes fire only against projectiles predicted to strike protected zones, an approach refined over time through repeated software and algorithm upgrades rather than extensive hardware changes.
At the center of the weapon system is the Tamir interceptor, a compact missile about three meters long and 160 millimeters in diameter, weighing roughly ninety kilograms at launch. Tamir combines command guidance via data link with an onboard seeker, with open sources describing an active radar seeker and electro-optical sensors that enable high-g maneuvering during the terminal phase. It carries a blast fragmentation warhead triggered by a proximity fuze to detonate close to the incoming rocket, shell, drone, or cruise missile, a design credited with thousands of successful combat intercepts and effectiveness rates above ninety percent against threats selected for engagement.
Since entering service, Iron Dome has been employed in every major round of fighting, from early operations over Gaza through the 2012 and 2014 campaigns, the May 2021 conflict, and the intense 2023 to 2025 Middle East war. During this period, Israel has faced sustained rocket, mortar, and drone fire from Gaza and Lebanon, and in April 2024, Iran and allied groups launched more than three hundred drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles toward Israeli territory in a single coordinated strike. In that event, Iron Dome operated as the lower tier of a wider defensive effort alongside David’s Sling and Arrow, thinning out shorter-range and residual threats while higher-tier systems tackled long-range ballistic missiles. The volume and duration of these engagements, together with frequent smaller salvos, have raised concerns about the pace at which Tamir stockpiles can be replenished relative to operational expenditure.
Against that backdrop, the new contract functions as both replenishment and expansion. The ministry’s statement highlights delivery of a substantial quantity of interceptors, while outside reporting links the order directly to the 5.2 billion dollar U.S. allocation dedicated to air and missile defense under the 8.7 billion dollar package, with Iron Dome identified as a principal beneficiary. In parallel, Rafael and Raytheon have opened an R2S joint venture facility in East Camden, Arkansas, established with a 33 million dollar investment to produce Tamir missiles for both Israeli Iron Dome batteries and the U.S. Marine Corps SkyHunter interceptor used in the Medium Range Intercept Capability program. The plant supports the Israel Missile Defense Organization within the Directorate of Defense Research and Development and is explicitly framed as part of the effort to accelerate serial production of Iron Dome interceptors, shifting a growing share of manufacturing to a joint U.S.-Israeli industrial base.
The Iron Dome expansion is also intertwined with Israel’s move toward directed energy. In late 2024, the ministry signed a separate agreement worth about two billion shekels with Rafael and Elbit Systems to scale up production of the Iron Beam high-power laser, intended to intercept rockets, mortars, drones, and cruise missiles at far lower cost per engagement than missile interceptors. Israeli officials expect Iron Beam to be co-located with Iron Dome batteries and integrated into their command and control network so that the laser can handle dense short-range salvos while Tamir missiles are reserved for more demanding threats. For Army Recognition’s readers, the result is clear: the latest multi-billion dollar contract locks in a multi-year production surge that restores interceptor depth after recent fighting, anchors a shared U.S.-Israeli supply chain for Tamir and SkyHunter, and reinforces Iron Dome’s position as a reference system in the global short-range air defense and counter rocket, artillery, and mortar market.
