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The US has been reportedly testing the Israeli-made Iron Dome air protection system on the Pacific island of Guam, which hosts the closest American army bases to China.
The continuing checks in Guam are scheduled to proceed till December, the Wall Avenue Journal has reported, with out increasing on how profitable they’ve been.
The Iron Dome system has been in service in Israel for a decade now, destroying hundreds of makeshift projectiles fired by Hamas militants on the territory of the Jewish state.
Designed to intercept short-range rockets, artillery shells and drones, the all-weather air protection system gained’t be a lot use in opposition to the hypersonic warhead lately examined by China.
However its deployment in Guam comes as half of a bigger effort by the Pentagon to spice up defenses on the island amid tensions with China over Taiwan and China’s rising affect within the Pacific area total.
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Guam is a US unincorporated territory situated some 4,700 kilometers from China. The island, which hosts a number of US Navy and Air Power bases, in addition to round 190,000 American civilians and army personnel, seems to be a logical goal for a primary strike by the Chinese language if a battle breaks out between Washington and Beijing.
Iron Dome, developed by Rafael Superior Protection Methods and Israel Aerospace Industries, was put in service in Israel in 2011. The system had been considerably expanded in later years by way of US funding. After a heated debate in September, the US Congress permitted one other $1 billion to replenish Iron Dome after a flare-up with Hamas in Could, which noticed greater than 4,000 projectiles concentrating on Israel.
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The Individuals bought two Iron Dome batteries from Israel in 2019, cashing out $373 million for them. One had been despatched to Guam, with the opposite remaining on the US mainland.
The Pentagon first examined Iron Dome at its White Sands vary in New Mexico this summer time. It efficiently shot down a lot of targets, together with drones, based on the Israeli Protection Ministry.
The deployment of the Israeli system at Guam was formally introduced in October. The US army described it as a “non permanent, experimental” transfer, saying that no live-fire drills involving Iron Dome have been deliberate.
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