According to reports, the US is testing an Israeli-made Iron Dome defense system on Guam in the Pacific. Guam hosts one of the most important American military bases.
The ongoing tests in Guam are scheduled to continue until December, the Wall Street Journal has reported, without expanding on how successful they’ve been.
Iron Dome has been serving Israel since a decade, dismantling thousands of projectiles from Hamas militants on the Jewish State’s territory.
Designed to intercept short-range rockets, artillery shells and drones, the all-weather air defense system won’t be much use against the hypersonic warhead recently tested by China.
But its deployment in Guam comes as part of a larger effort by the Pentagon to boost defenses on the island amid tensions with China over Taiwan and China’s growing influence in the Pacific region overall.
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Guam, a US territory unincorporated is located approximately 4,700 km from China. Guam, home to several US Navy and Air Force bases as well as approximately 190,000. Americans civilians and military personnel seems like a natural target for the Chinese in a possible first strike.
Iron Dome, a Rafael Advanced Defense Systems-Israel Aerospace Industries design, went into operation in Israel in 2011. In the years that followed, US funding had significantly increased the system’s capabilities. The US Congress authorized $1 billion additional funding to Iron Dome in September after heated discussions.
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In 2019, the Americans paid $373 million to Israel for two Iron Dome battery systems. One was sent to Guam and the other was left on the US mainland.
Iron Dome, which the Pentagon tested at White Sands in New Mexico last summer, was its first test. According to the Israeli Defense Ministry, it successfully took out a variety of targets including drones.
In October, it was publicly announced that the Israeli system would be deployed to Guam. According to the US military, it was a “very important deployment.” “temporary, experimental”declare that live-fire drills against Iron Dome are not planned.
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