Israel has the “Arrow” which is an Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM) system , developed to destroy incoming missiles. The Arrow ABM is tasked to protect Israel against medium-range ballistic missiles. But Israel lacks protection against smaller range rocket and missile fire from Hamas in Gaza.

Israel has an early warning system, which consists of electronic alarms ringing few seconds prior to missile hitting the ground. The citizens have to reach the nearest bunker in those few seconds. But with missile strikes numbering more than 1000 per year, Israel has look some ways of protecting its citizens against it.

In the face of it Israel is developing two systems, i.e, “Iron Dome” rocket defense system and ‘David’s Sling’ Missile Defense system. Iron Dome and David’s Sling represent a double-tiered missile defense solution. While Iron Dome will be used for missile defense against short range artillery rockets, David’s Sling, produced and developed by Rafael and Raytheon, will be used against medium and long range rockets, short range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. Both systems are in the development phase.

The Israeli security cabinet in December 2007 approved the funding for the development of the “Iron Dome” rocket defense system, designed to intercept short- and medium-range rockets such as Qassams and Katyushas within seconds of its launch using a combination of radar and the ‘Color Red’ rocket alert system. As per the Israeli estimate, the first operational version of the system will be deployed in Sderot in 2010. Iron Dome, is being developed by Rafael. A single Iron Dome” rocket defense system should be able to protect an area like city of Sderot from Qassam rockets fired from 3 to 24 miles. The system was specially designed to avoid collateral damage by detonating the target warhead outside the defended area preventing target debris from falling in that area. The system’s main components include tracking radar, a battle management and weapons control unit, an interceptor “Tamir missile” with a special warhead that detonates threats from ranges up to 70 km, and a missile firing unit. This system was tested in Jul 2008.

US and Israel have decided on David’s Sling development program, a bilateral effort to defend against a wide range of rockets, ballistic missiles and air-breathing threats. David’s Sling system along with its kinetic energy interceptor is an extremely fast reaction system aimed at intercepting a broad range of threats. It can take on short-range rockets to short-range ballistic missiles fired from 24 to 150 miles.

Since these systems will not be available till 2010, Israel is also considering short term measures like Nautilus, a joint Israeli-American invention that uses lasers to blow up rockets and mortar bombs mid-flight and Phalanx, an automated machine gun.

An Israeli estimate says that it needs protection against 50,000 such missiles from neighborhood.