The US Marine Corps is set to purchase Iron Dome interceptor missiles from Raytheon in a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a notice of intent published Thursday on the System for Award Management (SAM) site.
Rafael, which produces the acclaimed Iron Dome aerial defense system, has a partnership with the US-based Raytheon defense contractor.
Details on the cost of the contract were not disclosed, but it’s estimated at close to $200 million, according to The Drive.
According to the notice, contracting notice, the Marines are currently planning to buy “three Batteries of MRIC systems, consisting of 1,840 Tamir missiles, 44 Expeditionary launchers integrated with Iron Dome Missile Firing Unit Launch Control Electronics (LCE), 11 mini-Battle Management and Control (mBMC) systems with uplinks compatible with the LCE and integrated with expeditionary Command and Control (C2) (i.e., the Processing and Display Subsystem (PDS) from the USMC Common Aviation Command and Control System (CAC2S).”
The Marines are also looking to purchase “80 Tamir missiles to support the initial MRIC Prototype deployment” and associated “logistics and technical support” for all of these systems.
The US purchased two Iron Dome batteries from Israel in 2019. One was delivered in 2020, and the other in January 2021.
The aerial defense system was developed in Israel but upgraded with US support.
First deployed in Israel in 2011, the Iron Dome was originally designed to intercept short-range rocket threats but has since been improved to also intercept cruise missiles, UAVs (drones) and mortar shells – all of which are fired at Israel by Gaza terrorists.
