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US Army Conducts Tests of Israel’s Iron Dome Air Defense Systems

An Iron Dome missile defense battery being loaded onto a ship for delivery to the United States in January 2021. (Defense Ministry)
An Iron Dome missile defense battery being loaded onto a ship for delivery to the United States in January 2021. (Defense Ministry)
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US Army Conducts Tests of Israel’s Iron Dome Air Defense Systems

An Iron Dome missile defense battery being loaded onto a ship for delivery to the United States in January 2021. (Defense Ministry)
An Iron Dome missile defense battery being loaded onto a ship for delivery to the United States in January 2021. (Defense Ministry)

The US Army successfully conducted a live-fire test of the first Iron Dome air defense systems, which Washington acquired from Tel Aviv, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced Tuesday.

“The Iron Dome Defense System-Army (IDDS-A) battery was tested at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico,” the ministry said, adding that the test was assisted by defense contractors Iron Dome developers Rafael, IAI Elta and mPrest.

The ministry said the US has been working to integrate the system into its air defense array and has upgraded and improved the Iron Dome batteries to allow it to also shoot down mortar shells, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles.

Iron Dome is an Israeli mobile missile defense system designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery.

In 2019, Israel signed an agreement with Washington to sell two Iron Dome batteries to the United States and it shipped the first two defense systems to the US Army in 2020.

Under the 2019 agreement between Tel Aviv and Washington, the US military bought Israel's battle-proven Iron Dome that destroys rockets on condition that Israel starts testing a US laser missile interceptor system.

Israeli experts then joined their colleagues at the US Lockheed Martin company to develop a ground-based laser weapon for Israel.

This method of airborne interception using laser has many advantages, including a low cost per interception compared to the Israeli Iron Dome interceptors, which costs $50,000 each.

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Russian Defense Minister Visits North Korea to Talk with Military and Political Leaders

In this photo taken from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry press service, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, left, is welcomed by North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol upon his arrival at Pyongyang International Airport outside Pyongyang, North Korea Friday, Nov.29, 2024. (Russian Defense Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry press service, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, left, is welcomed by North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol upon his arrival at Pyongyang International Airport outside Pyongyang, North Korea Friday, Nov.29, 2024. (Russian Defense Press Service via AP)
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Russian Defense Minister Visits North Korea to Talk with Military and Political Leaders

In this photo taken from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry press service, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, left, is welcomed by North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol upon his arrival at Pyongyang International Airport outside Pyongyang, North Korea Friday, Nov.29, 2024. (Russian Defense Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry press service, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, left, is welcomed by North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol upon his arrival at Pyongyang International Airport outside Pyongyang, North Korea Friday, Nov.29, 2024. (Russian Defense Press Service via AP)

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in North Korea on Friday for talks with North Korean military and political leaders as the countries deepen their alignment over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The defense ministry in announcing the visit didn’t specify who Belousov would be meeting or the purpose of the talks. North Korean state media didn’t immediately confirm the visit.
Belousov, a former economist, replaced Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in May after Russian President Vladimir Putin started a fifth term in power.
The visit came days after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in the South Korean capital of Seoul and called for the two countries to formulate countermeasures in response to North Korea’s dispatch of thousands of troops to Russia in support of its fight against Ukraine.
The United States and its allies have said North Korea has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to Russia in recent weeks and that some of those troops were engaging in combat.
North Korea has also been accused of supplying artillery systems, missiles and other military equipment to Russia that may help Russian President Vladmir Putin further extend an almost three-year war. There are also concerns in Seoul that North Korea in exchange for its troops and arms supplies could receive Russian technology transfers that could potentially advance the threat posed by leader Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
Yoon’s national security adviser, Shin Wonsik, said in a TV interview last week that Seoul assesses that Russia has provided air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops.
Shin said Russia has also appeared to have given economic assistance to North Korea and various military technologies, including those needed for the North’s efforts to build a reliable space-based surveillance system. Shin didn’t say whether Russia has already transferred sensitive nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technologies to North Korea.
The Russian media report about Belousov’s visit came as South Korea scrambled fighter jets to repel six Russian and five Chinese warplanes that temporarily entered the country’s air defense identification zone around its eastern and southern seas, according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The joint chiefs said the Russian and Chinese planes did not breach South Korea’s territorial airspace.