Report: Army Finalizes Deal to Procure 'Iron Dome' Air Defense System

The U.S. Army has finalized a contract to buy two units of a weapon system developed by Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) and Israeli defense contractor Rafael to address an interim cruise missile defense requirement, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Daryl Youngman, deputy director of the Army’s air and missile defense cross-functional team, confirmed the deal for the procurement of Iron Dome weapons during an interview with Defense News.

He said the service branch is working on experimentation and analysis activities for the Indirect Fires Protection Capability program that will involve the use of Iron Dome.

Youngman added that the service intends to evaluate the performance of the system and its potential to integrate with an air and missile defense platform as part of the IFPC initiative. The two batteries are currently slated for fielding to operational units for potential exercise activities.

Iron Dome features a multimission launcher and is designed to intercept short-range targets such as artillery, mortars and rockets. The system can fire Tamir missiles that contain electro-optical sensors and proximity fuze blast warheads.

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