Ukraine considers buying Israeli Iron Dome air defense system.

According to Anna Ahronheim in The Jerusalem Post, the Deputy Mayor of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol wants the Iron Dome system to protect the city's airport. Mariupol is the largest city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region that has seen incessant fighting with Russian-backed troops since 2014. The city’s airport, which is near the border with Russia, has been closed since the fighting broke out.
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The Iron Dome was tested through a range of complex scenarios and successfully intercepted and destroyed targets, simulating existing and emerging threats, including the simultaneous interception of multiple UAVs, as well as a salvo of rockets and missiles. (Picture source: Rafael)

According to the mrpl.city news website echoed by The Jerusalem Post, the deputy mayor of the city, Sergei Zakharov, said in an interview with local press that reopening the skies as well as modern infrastructure to protect the airport and surrounding skies are two of the main points that are needed in order to reopen the airport. While the city doesn’t need a large airport, it needs a safe one. “For security, the Israelis use the Iron Dome tactical defense system. We can also adopt this practice and we have already laid the groundwork in this area and are aware of the steps needed to be taken,” Zakharov said. The deputy mayor said that the cost of purchasing the system “is about €50 million” and that the city has already contacted an Israeli security company who will be sending a delegation at the end of June.

The Iron Dome is the only dual mission system in the world that provides an effective defense solution for countering rockets, artillery and mortars (what is called C-RAM in short), as well as aircraft, helicopters, UAVs, unguided and Precision Guided Missiles. The system is an effective system for countering C-RAM threats with ranges of up to 70 km and, for very short air defense protection (or V-SHORAD) at up to 10km. The system operates in all weather conditions, including low clouds, rain, dust storms or fog.

A single Iron Dome battery is required to protect an urban area of approximately 150km² from rockets fired at a range of 15 km, with the defended area growing if the rockets are fired from greater distances, which is crucial as the HAMAS has just demonstrated it can fire missiles at distances of up to roughly 200 km, if not 250. The Iron Dome is indeed able to intercept and eliminate a wide range of threats like mortar shells, Hamas' Qassams, Hezbollah's Katyusha rockets and even the Fajr rockets supplied by Iran to the Hezbollah and Hamas.

Army Recognition explains in a short video how Iron Dome works.