A British version of Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ system would fail to protect the whole of the UK against Russian missile attacks – because the system needed would be ‘too prohibitively expensive’ to cover every part of the country, experts have warned. 

The threat of such an attack on the UK is the highest since the end of the Cold War, analysts previously revealed.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asked for a review to determine where Britain’s armed forces are vulnerable, with the findings handed to ministers who are now deciding how much of the review should be made public.

It is expected that – if published in full – the report will outline the armed forces’ lack of air defences against missiles, as Britain’s Type 45 naval destroyers would struggle to fend off attacks like the ones Russia is currently raining down on Ukraine.

As such, there have been increased calls for Britain to replicate the Iron Dome, Israel’s missile defence system, which is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of two to 43 miles away. 

The system was ’90 percent effective’ in October when Iran fired 200 ballistic missiles at Israel.

Last year Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, confirmed that the Government had been looking into whether the adoption of such a system could be possible – but added that the cost – which would run into the billions – would be a major factor. 

And yet the threat against Britain is very real.

A British version of Israel's 'Iron Dome' system would fail to protect the whole of the UK against Russian missile attacks - because the system needed would be 'too prohibitively expensive'. Pictured: Projectiles being intercepted by Israel near Baqa al-Gharbiya on October 1

A British version of Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ system would fail to protect the whole of the UK against Russian missile attacks – because the system needed would be ‘too prohibitively expensive’. Pictured: Projectiles being intercepted by Israel near Baqa al-Gharbiya on October 1

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asked for a review to determine where Britain's armed forces are vulnerable

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asked for a review to determine where Britain’s armed forces are vulnerable

Vladimir Putin’s fleet of rocket-laden submarines and warships off the coast ofNorway, for example, pose an acute threat to the UK, a study by a think tank called the Council on Geostrategy has found. 

Russia’s Northern fleet, which carries 800 cruise missiles including ones like the Kalibr capable of hitting a target more than 1,500 miles away, could be used to launch an attack on Britain, which does not have enough air defences to protect itself, according to the report.

‘The missile threat is the most stark it has been since the end of the Cold War,’ the report states.

Analysts have said ‘it may be wise’ to boost Britain’s air defences on Royal Navy carriers due to the cost of ground-based systems, even though the latter should also be bought ‘in an ideal world’.

Other European countries have already bolstered their air defences, with Germany signing a £3billion deal to buy Israel’s Arrow 3 antiballistic missile systems – considered one of the best in the world.

According to the Council of Geostrategy, Russia has a ‘limited’ amount of ballistic missiles capable of reaching the UK. 

But the report warns that Russia, China and Iran are putting money towards the development of hypersonic and ballistic missiles.

‘As ranges increase, the British Isles will increasingly come under potential threat,’ the authors reportedly warned. 

Vladimir Putin's fleet of rocket-laden submarines and warships off the coast of Norway are posing an acute threat to the UK, a study by a think tank called the Council on Geostrategy has found (file image of a Russian warship)

Vladimir Putin’s fleet of rocket-laden submarines and warships off the coast of Norway are posing an acute threat to the UK, a study by a think tank called the Council on Geostrategy has found (file image of a Russian warship)

Your browser does not support iframes.

The authors added that the UK should buy ‘several more’ batteries of the Sky Sabre and other existing ground-launched systems to defend British military bases.

Additionally, anti-aircraft guns like the German Gepard system used in Ukraine should be bought as a defence against drones.

Off Norway, where a fleet of Russian warships are located, the report argues that the Royal Navy should focus on defending the ‘Svalbard-Tromso gap’ and keep an eye on Russian submarines positioning themselves in range for cruise-missiles to hit Britain.

Meanwhile, ministers should increase the order of E-7 Wedgetail aircrafts that can detect incoming missiles early on from three to five, which were initially ordered. 

Britain’s best chance against an attack by sea, other than a submarine, remains the RAF’s powerful fleet of 9 Poseidon P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, which can drop sonobuoys and torpedoes.

But analysts say the UK would need at least 15 to cover the entirety of the country – rather than the nine Britain currently has. 

In Israel, the Iron Dome system uses a sophisticated radar to detect incoming airborne objects such as a drones, rockets, and missiles, and then sends the information back to a command-and-control center where it is determined whether the threat needs to be neutralised.

Overall the system, made up of at least 10 missile-defence batteries strategically distributed around the country, has been hailed a huge success – but it does not come cheap.

Image of HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer, currently on operations in the Mediterranean sea, seen here with her Wildcat helicopter test firing it's defensive aid suite

Image of HMS Diamond, a Type 45 destroyer, currently on operations in the Mediterranean sea, seen here with her Wildcat helicopter test firing it’s defensive aid suite

‘We’ve done a lot of things to help people have a sense of security in Israel, and Iron Dome is just one element – but it’s expensive,’ an IDF commander of an Iron Dome battery protecting a town of 35,000 people told The Express.

Alongside the Iron Dome, Israel employs a Home Front Command app to direct every citizen to the nearest shelter within 1.5 minutes from their location – and every new building is constructed with a shelter.

In the UK however, there are not even any public shelters being considered for civilian protection.  

Shadow Armed Forces Minister, Mark Francois, said: ‘The UK has nothing remotely comparable to Israel’s multi-layered missile defence system, of which iron dome is but one part.’

And Falklands hero Admiral Chris Parry, a former director general of the MoD’s Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) said: ‘The fact is that if war breaks out in the short to medium term, we will be in real trouble as far as defending the UK is concerned.’

The debate over whether the UK could install an Iron Dome comes as security advisers warned that fears of a plot by Russia to sabotage Britain’s energy pipelines means families should pack a 72-hour ‘survival kit’.

As the UK pursues Net Zero environmental targets – leading to the closure of coal-fired power stations – the country has become increasingly reliant on supplies of gas and electricity from abroad in order to ‘keep the lights on’.

Nearly 40 per cent of the UK’s gas supply is imported from Norway, much of which comes through the single, 700-mile Langeled pipeline.

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip in January 2024

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip in January 2024

Concerns that the Russians are planning a sabotage operation have escalated since one of their spy ships, the Yantar, was detected mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure in the North Sea in recent months.

With the UK reported to have come close to blackouts during the past winter – saved only by emergency reserves and electricity imported undersea from Denmark – security experts have argued that British households should follow the example of the EU, which has advised citizens to pack a three-day survival kit.

This should include water, non-perishable food, medicines, a battery-powered radio, a torch, identity documents and a Swiss Army knife.

The protection of critical undersea infrastructure will form part of the Government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) by former Nato secretary-general Lord Robertson this year.

It comes after Moscow was linked to a string of apparent sabotage incidents in the Baltic Sea in the past two years, affecting cable and pipeline links. Germany’s Nord Stream gas pipelines were also sabotaged in 2022.

Separately, the Russians are also believed to have placed listening devices on offshore UK wind turbines in an attempt to track the movement of British submarines.

An MOD Spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘The UK stands fully prepared to defend itself against any threat alongside our NATO allies.

‘Our military is equipped with a range of advanced capabilities to provide a layered approach to air and missile defence.

‘While the UK and Israel face different security environments, we take the threats we face very seriously and the Strategic Defence Review is examining the capabilities we need to keep Britain secure at home and strong abroad.’

What is the Iron Dome?

The Iron Dome is an all-weather mobile system in Israel that is made up of at least 10 missile-defence batteries strategically distributed around the country.

The device is made up of three main sections: a radar detection system, a computer to calculate the incoming rocket’s trajectory, and a launcher that fires interceptors if the rocket is deemed likely to hit a built-up or strategic area.

It uses a sophisticated radar to detect incoming airborne objects such as a drones, rockets, and missiles, it sends the information back to a command-and-control center.

Here, the threat is tracked to assess whether it is a false alarm and the potential destination of the flying object.

Each truck-towed unit then fires radar-guided missiles to blow up short-range threats like rockets, mortars and drones in mid-air.

The system fires the interceptors – just 6 inches wide and 10 feet long- at the incoming threats that seem most likely to hit an inhabited area.

Each Iron Dome battery consists of three to four launchers that can each carry up to 20 Tamir interceptor missiles.

The batteries can neutralise threats launched from up to 43 miles away, while at the same time ignoring projectiles that are projected to strike unpopulated areas.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Israel's Iron Dome uses a sophisticated radar to detect incoming airborne objects such as a drones, rockets, and missiles

Israel’s Iron Dome uses a sophisticated radar to detect incoming airborne objects such as a drones, rockets, and missiles

In late 2012 Israel said that it hoped to increase the range of Iron Dome’s interceptions, from a maximum of 43 to 155 miles away and make it more versatile so that it could intercept rockets coming from two directions simultaneously.

The 10 Iron Domes placed throughout the country are able to defend up to nearly 60 square miles of land – protecting countless civilians and critical infrastructure.

The system was developed by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries and was upgraded in 2012, but the details of the changes were not made public.

The United States backed the initial project with a $200,000 grant in 2006.

The David’s Sling and Arrow Defences 

The Iron Dome is just one of Israel’s three-tiered missile defence system along with the The Arrow, and David’s Sling.

Israel’s Iron Dome system garners the most attention of the country’s air defences as it’s used most frequently to bring down unguided, short-range rockets often fired by Hezbollah and Hamas.

However, the country’s air defences are made of three critical ‘overlapping’ systems that can blast threats out of the skies at different ranges.

The targeting of guided ballistic missiles that travel at higher altitudes, longer ranges and faster speeds requires a different system from the Iron Dome to take them down.

For this, Israel uses both ‘David’s Sling ‘and the ‘Arrow 2 and 3’ home-grown air defence systems which are built to destroy medium-range and long-range ballistic missiles. 

Iranian state TV broadcasted the moment it launched nearly 200 missiles towards Israel

Iranian state TV broadcasted the moment it launched nearly 200 missiles towards Israel

Israel's David's Sling system operates for interception as rockets are fired from Lebanon, as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel, September 25, 2024

Israel’s David’s Sling system operates for interception as rockets are fired from Lebanon, as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel, September 25, 2024

The Arrow system developed with the US is designed to intercept long-range missiles, including the types of ballistic missiles Iran launched at Israel.

Both the Arrow 2 and 3 systems are capable of handling much longer-range missiles like Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM’s) that will likely travel at altitudes beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, a capability similar to the US military’s THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) air defense system.

The Arrow 3 system is believed to have a range of 1,500 miles and can reach an altitude of 100 miles.

The Arrow 2 is designed to explode near a missile to bring down an incoming missile, but the Arrow 3 is a hit-to-kill missile.

The systems are designed to engage threats both in and outside the atmosphere, and they operate at an altitude that allows for the safe dispersal of any non-conventional warheads.

State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries is the project’s main contractor, while Boeing Co. is involved in producing the interceptors.

David’s Sling, also developed with the US, is meant to intercept medium-range missiles, such as those possessed by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The two-stage missile has no warhead, it destroys incoming ballistic missiles with the sheer force of impact, making it what is known as a ‘hit- to- kill’ which has been characterized as hitting a bullet with a bullet given the high velocities involved. 

How effective is the Iron Dome?

Iron Dome’s effectiveness has improved since it first successfully took out a hostile projective in April 2011, and has gone on to achieve a reported success rate of around 90 per cent, according to Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.

In a large Iranian attack in October 2024, most of the roughly 180 missiles were intercepted by the defensive weapon before reaching Israeli territory, while others were shot down by the United States and other allies.

It has also been proven to be highly effective in recent years, with its abilities especially highlighted in 2021 after militant groups in Gaza fired at least 4,000 rockets during the 11-day May war.

In the first 24 hours of the conflict 470 rockets were fired with Iron Dome system intercepting about 90% of the rockets heading to populated areas within Israel.

In the US, Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering wrote in Defence News: ‘Iron Dome has stopped over 2,000 rockets fired at Israeli population centres with a remarkable success rate, an achievement that also shifted US thinking about homeland missile defence.

‘Iron Dome is the most proven and affordable option against very short-range fire.’

He hailed it as a ‘gamechanger’.

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in central Israel, in November 2023

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in central Israel, in November 2023

On the battlefield during Operation Pillar of Defence in November 2012, and when used in Operation Protective Edge in 2014, the system had 84 per cent and 91 per cent rates of success, respectively.

But things become more complicated if the drones are flying so low that the radar can’t detect them.

Israel has hundreds of interceptor missiles at its disposal, but the Iron Dome has come under immense pressures as seen on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel with a barrage of thousands of missiles.

Hamas said it launched 5,000 rockets in the initial attack and Israel’s military countered by saying just 2,500 rockets were fired.

‘That quantity was simply too much for Iron Dome to manage,’ said the Modern War Institute report.

This suggests the Iron Dome has a limit to the number of rockets it is able to intercept, and if that number is exceeded, the rest of the rockets will permeate the system, according to a Forbes report from 2021.

Just two days after the October 7 massacre, the Israeli government asked the US to provide more precision-guided munitions for its combat aircraft and more interceptors for its Iron Dome missile defense system, according to a US official.

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk