Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States has been urged to acquire a variant
of Israel’s Irone Dome missile and rocket defense system.

A leading U.S. institute asserted that Washington must procure Iron Dome
in wake of its interception of hundreds of Palestinian missiles and rockets
fired from the Gaza Strip.

The Lexington Institute said the United States and other Western countries could come under the same missile threat as Israel.

“The U.S. and its allies need to pay attention to what is going on in
the Middle East,” the institute said. “Threats from rockets and missiles are
becoming the norm across the spectrum of conflict.”

In a recent statement, Lexington warned that insurgency groups were
acquiring missiles, mortars and rockets for attacks on urban areas. The
institute, regarded as close to the Defense Department, cited Afghanistan
and Iraq, where Al Qaida has been active.

“For obvious reasons, Israel has become the gold standard when it comes
to missile defense,” Lexington, in an analysis titled “The Future Wars of
the Cities,” said. “In the face of much criticism and second-guessing, it
has pursued a layered defense system coupled to a robust civil defense
capability. The operation of Iron Dome, which has achieved an 85 percent
success rate for intercepts attempted, proves decisively and dramatically
that missile defenses can work.”

Lexington reviewed what it termed the achievements of Iron Dome during
the latest war between Israel and Hamas. The institute said Iron Dome
intercepted the Iranian-origin Fajr-5 rocket, with a range of nearly 80
kilometers. In all, Hamas fired more than 1,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip
toward Israeli communities.

Washington has approved more than $270 million for Israel’s production
of Iron Dome. Congress was examining a proposal to approve hundreds of
millions of dollars in a program in which Iron Dome would be co-produced in
the United States.

“The Pentagon can no longer take a lackadaisical attitude towards
missile defenses,” Lexington said. “Given how much of the Israeli program
has been built with U.S. money and technical assistance, our military should
be acquiring similar capabilities to deploy layered defenses.”

  Fajr-5 rocket, Iron Dome, Lexington Institute, Missile attacks new ‘norm’: U.S. told it now needs Israel’s Iron Dome system, Pentagon