Hamas Has Better Katyusha's In The Works--Is Israel's Iron Dome Ready?

According to Ynet, Hamas is making enormous strides in launching rockets against civilian targets:

Hamas has completed a series of experiments on its advanced Fajar rocket, which has a range of almost 80 kilometers (roughly 50 miles) and can as far Kfar Saba, northeast of Tel Aviv, experts say.

In a few months, Hamas will be able to begin manufacturing the rockets, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.


The progress made by the Gaza group on the rocket front is huge, considering that Hamas' original Qassam rockets had a range of around 1.5 km (roughly 1 mile.)

The long-range rockets acquired by Hamas are of the Fajar-5 type, and it is believed that they arrived in the Strip via the Sinai peninsula.

Israel believes that the rockets were developed by scientists working for the organization and for research institutes located in Arab countries in the region that have been working non-stop to arm Hamas in Gaza.

Back in May, Reuters reported about Israel's Iron Dome:

Produced by Israeli state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Iron Dome uses small radar-guided missiles to blow up Katyusha-style rockets with ranges of between 5 kilometers (3 miles) and 70 kilometer (45 miles), as well as mortar bombs, in mid-air.

Assuming the Reuters article is accurate, will Iron Dome really be effective with Katyusha-style rockets only up to 70 miles? If the Fajar really has an 80 kilometer/50 mile range, how will that affect the ability of the new missile system to take those rockets out?

Of course, there is always the question of how this would affect Israel's ability to take out Iranian nuclear plants.

Technorati Tag: Iron Dome.