US Purchases Iron Dome Batteries from Israel

Streaks of light are seen as Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, last April (Reuters)
Streaks of light are seen as Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, last April (Reuters)
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US Purchases Iron Dome Batteries from Israel

Streaks of light are seen as Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, last April (Reuters)
Streaks of light are seen as Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, last April (Reuters)

The US Marine Corps announced Saturday it is planning to purchase three batteries of Israel's Iron Dome air defense system, in a deal that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The deal allows the Israeli developers of air defense systems, score another commercial achievement after the US government approved the sale of an Israeli air defense system, the Arrow-3, to Germany at approximately $3.5 billion.

Any Iron Dome sale, which is a joint Israeli-American project, must be approved by both countries before a deal with a third party.

According to Walla website, it is assumed that the new deal will include about 2,000 Tamir anti-missiles and 44 launchers, as well as control systems. The contract will be signed directly with the American corporation Raytheon, a partner of the Rafael state defense concern in the production of the Iron Dome and David’s Sling.

A significant part of the weapons will be produced in the United States, and not at the Rafael enterprises in Israel.

This is the second time the US buys Iron Dome systems from Israel. It had bought two Iron Dome batteries from Israel for $340 million.

But the acquisition of the Israeli system, which was largely the result of pressure from pro-Israeli lawmakers, faced a central problem. Rafael refused to provide the US military with Iron Dome’s source code, hampering the Americans’ ability to integrate the system into their air defenses.

Under the new deal, the Marine Corps plans to use Iron Dome to protect its troops from cruise missiles, drones, rockets and artillery attacks.

In June, the Marine Corps announced it had conducted two successful live-fire tests of the Tamir missiles and said it was satisfied with the Iron Dome capacities to hit cruise missiles and other targets.

The Iron Dome system was developed by Rafael and the Ministry of Defense to protect Israeli Army bases and settlements from rocket attacks fired from Gaza.

In 2011, the Iron Dome scored its first interception of a missile fired at Ashkelon. To date, the system has completed more than 2,400 operational interceptions, with a success rate of more than 90 percent.



Lawyer: South Korea's Yoon to Accept Court Decision Even if it Ends Presidency

Yoon Kab-keun, lawyer for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, attends a press conference in Seoul on January 9, 2025. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
Yoon Kab-keun, lawyer for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, attends a press conference in Seoul on January 9, 2025. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
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Lawyer: South Korea's Yoon to Accept Court Decision Even if it Ends Presidency

Yoon Kab-keun, lawyer for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, attends a press conference in Seoul on January 9, 2025. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)
Yoon Kab-keun, lawyer for South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, attends a press conference in Seoul on January 9, 2025. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE / AFP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will accept the decision of the Constitutional Court that is trying parliament's impeachment case against him, even if it decides to remove the suspended leader from office, his lawyer said on Thursday.
"So if the decision is 'removal', it cannot but be accepted," Yoon Kab-keun, the lawyer for Yoon, told a news conference, when asked if Yoon would accept whatever the outcome of trial was.
Yoon has earlier defied the court's requests to submit legal briefs before the court began its hearing on Dec. 27, but his lawyers have said he was willing to appear in person to argue his case.
The suspended president has defied repeated summons in a separate criminal investigation into allegations he masterminded insurrection with his Dec. 3 martial law bid.
Yoon, the lawyer, said the president is currently at his official residence and appeared healthy, amid speculation over the suspended leader's whereabouts.
Presidential security guards resisted an initial effort to arrest Yoon last week though he faces another attempt after a top investigator vowed to do whatever it takes to break a security blockade and take in the embattled leader.
Seok Dong-hyeon, another lawyer advising Yoon, said Yoon viewed the attempts to arrest him as politically motivated and aimed at humiliating him by bringing him out in public wearing handcuffs.