Since the outbreak of events in Gaza about twenty days ago, the Biden administration has announced its military and political support for Israel, offering a range of weapons and military equipment. The President almost immediately declared that the United States "will stand alongside Israel" during the conflict and pledged to send a substantial amount of military equipment and weapons to the country, including the American-made Tamir interceptor missile.
But what are Tamir missiles and what is their cost, especially since they are a key component of the Israeli "Iron Dome" defense system, according to a report published by Newsweek? The Tamir missiles were among the first elements sent to Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7. They are produced by the U.S.-based company RTX, formerly known as Raytheon, in partnership with Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The nearly identical weapons designed for the U.S. military are called SkyHunter missiles.
These missiles are used as part of the mobile Iron Dome system to intercept and destroy incoming aerial attacks detected by radar. The cost of each Tamir interceptor missile is approximately $40,000, according to Foreign Policy magazine, and the success rate of the Iron Dome is about 90 percent.
Additionally, U.S. assistance to support the Iron Dome system also includes Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kits, which are used to upgrade navigation systems on "dumb bombs" to convert them into precision-guided weapons, or "smart bombs." Furthermore, the first shipment of weapons included about 1,000 small-diameter guided bombs, each weighing about 250 pounds and guided by GPS navigation systems, according to The New York Times.
Last week, reports surfaced that the United States would send tens of thousands of artillery shells to Israel that were originally intended for Ukraine. Defense officials stated that the 155mm shells were originally part of a stockpile allocated for Israel but were transferred to Europe before the Middle East conflict. However, the exact quantity of all weapons sent to Israel this month remains unclear.
Part of the efforts to assist Israel includes expediting shipments of weapons and equipment that the country has already purchased from the United States. It is worth noting that the United States has also sent naval warships and aircraft carriers to the region, along with thousands of troops and fighter jets from the Air Force. This buildup aims to assist Israel in planning and intelligence operations, rather than direct intervention in the conflict.
