Work to build Britain’s own Iron Dome system that intercepts enemy rocket fire is already underway following the Iranian missile attack on Israel, a UK army chief has revealed.
The Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Tony Radakin said options for a rocket interception system were already being looked at.
He told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘That gives the opportunity to provide advice to the next government in terms of “These are your choices”.
He said plans included a pan-European ‘super-dome’ or ‘more modest’ defence domes for big cities and infrastructure.
The defence chief added: ‘Those are the things that will all have to be played into a conversation with the next government… alongside obviously, the cost of these defences and then what priority they’re given.’
The interest in Britain’s own Iron Dome defence system comes after the success of Israel’s system which shoots down around 90 per cent of missiles and costs around £2.5bn a year to run.
During the Iranian missile attack on Israel in April, the small Jewish state faced a fierce bombardment of over 300 drones and ballistic missiles.
The powerful short-range defence system was used to shoot down the incoming barrage of drones, cruise missiles and rockets fired from Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, and has also been working in full-force to handle attacks throughout the war with Hamas.
The Iron Dome works to detect incoming rockets, before determining its path and intercepting them, and has blasted thousands of airborne weapons since it first went into operation in 2011.
The three-part, multi-billion pound air defence system, developed by Israel with US backing after the 2006 Lebanon War, has been crucial in defending Israeli cities for over a decade and is credited with preventing serious damage or casualties.
Similar tactics have also been used by Russia to blast Ukraine’s flurry of Western and Soviet-era surface-to-air systems.
The impressive system works to detect incoming rockets, before determining it’s path and blasting them out of the sky before they cause any destruction on land.
It was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and has been dubbed one of the best defence systems in the world.
The Jewish state has at least 10 missile batteries capable of intercepting enemy rockets and missiles scattered across the country.
The device is made up of three main sections: a radar detection system, a computer to calculate the incoming rocket’s trajectory, and a launcher that fires interceptors if the rocket is deemed likely to hit a built-up or strategic area.
Each Iron Dome battery consists of three to four launchers that can each carry up to 20 Tamir interceptor missiles.
Sir Radakin’s revelation that the UK was looking at an Iron Dome type system comes after Tobias Ellwood, a former chairman of the Commons defence committee said last month that the UK needs a ‘permanent umbrella of security’ due to the evolving nature of modern warfare.
We need to prepare for a multitude of types of attack from the non-state to state actors. And that will require investments, absolutely, in an Iron Dome for the UK,’ Mr Ellwood told The Telegraph.
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel, Sunday, April 14, 2024
He warned that the country must quickly realise where the world is headed and suggested that spending three per cent of GDP – just over £68billion – on an Iron Dome would be a sensible idea.
Sir Radakin has also made his views that the UK needed an Iron Dome system in April.
Asked if an ‘Iron Dome’ was needed, Sir Tony told LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr: ‘That will be needed in the future, that is a live conversation.
‘We have several capabilities that help to protect the UK and to help our forces when they’re stationed abroad, we don’t have the same kind of system that Israel has but we don’t live in the same type of neighbourhood that Israel lives in, so that’s why it’s very different.
The nation’s protective umbrella of air defence is created using kit from all three military services.
In the Royal Navy, Type 45 destroyers act as the vanguard at sea, armed with sophisticated radar systems.
Within the navy’s fleet, high-end warships are equipped with Sea Viper and Sea Ceptor guided missile systems to destroy targets at range.
Closer systems like the Phalanx B weapons platform – which can spew out 3,000 rounds per minute – and th2 30mm cannons can be used to take out jets and drones.
The British Army’s 7th Air Defence Group, made up of regular soldiers from 12 and 16 Regiment, Royal Artillery, and reservists from 106 Regiment, are charged with protecting the skies.
They are armed with the Sky Sabre missile system, can simultaneously at destroy 24 different targets travelling at supersonic speeds.
Soldiers are also trained to fire the Starstreak high velocity missile, which can be launched from a vehicle, a mounted platform or off the shoulder.
While the RAF has Lightning F-35 and supersonic Typhoon jets at its disposable. The warplanes can be armed with advanced short and medium range air-to-air missiles.
‘And we also are part of this big alliance [Nato] but when you look at the threats that are out there, far more longer range missiles, far more longer range one way attack drones, much easier ways of delivering those.
‘So that’s why we’ve got various initiatives both for ourselves as the UK but also with our European allies about how we might better defend ourselves in the future, conscious that those threats are probably going to increase.’
Former Defence Minister Mark Francois has previously called for a ‘UK equivalent of Israel’s Iron Dome system’ in an interview.
James Heappey, the former armed forces minister, has also backed the calls – although critics have noted Britain’s bigger size would make a British Iron Dome far more complex and costly than Israel’s.
Senior defence insiders are concerned a hostile force such as Vladimir Putin’s Russia could one day launch a direct aerial onslaught against Britain, raining down cruise missiles and kamikaze drones on key military bases and UK cities.
MP Penny Mordaunt, who championed Israel’s Iron Dome has suggested the UK could ‘look to Israel’s example’ in how to invest in new defence tech.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared in April that Britain would commit to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said this would represent a ‘game-changing’ £75bn boost for the forces.
The nation’s current protection is made of a sophisticated layer of military tech, providing an umbrella of defence from aerial threats.
In the air, RAF Typhoons and F-35 stealth jets can intercept enemy warplanes at distance – with UK jets shooting down a number of drones while supporting the defence of Israel earlier this month.
On the ground, there is the Royal Artillery’s Sky Sabre missile system, which is Britain’s only medium-range, ground-based air defence system.
Sky Sabre can control 24 missiles simultaneously to intercept 24 targets in flight, as well as shoot down fighter jets, drones and laser-guided bombs. It is so accurate it can hit a tennis ball-sized object travelling at the speed of sound.
The UK is understood to have six of this weapons platform, with at least one being deployed to defend the Falklands.
Troops from the Royal Artillery are also equipped to fire high velocity Starstreak missiles, which can be mounted to vehicles or fired individually from the shoulder. These are capable of downing helicopters, jets and drones.
At sea, the Royal Navy’s six £1bn-a-piece Type 45 destroyers are capable of protecting larger areas of coastline, using its Sea Viper missiles to down enemy jets and missiles from 70km away.
The ship’s systems were recently put to the test in the Middle East, with HMS Diamond’s missiles downing a number of suicide drones launched from Yemen by Houthi rebels at merchant ships in the Red Sea.
While Type 23 frigates are equipped with a 32-strong silo of Sea Ceptor missiles.
However, defence chiefs have said that although Britain has these air defence assets to hand, its overall system is nowhere near as advanced as Israel’s.
Along with the UK, several other countries have also expressed interest in buying Iron Dome systems in recent years, including Germany, Romania and India.