The Rafael Advanced Defense Systems C-Dome naval air and missile defence system has made its first combat interceptions.
Rafael initially reported on 10 April 2024 that the system had been used the previous night “to intercept a suspicious hostile target which posed a significant threat to Israeli assets and strategic sites in southern Israel”.
Then, following the Iranian missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attack on Israel on 13 April, the Israel Defense Forces website reported that, on the evening of 14 April, Israeli Air Force and Israeli naval forces identified a suspicious aerial target that crossed from the Red Sea into Israeli airspace”, adding that “an Israeli Navy missile ship successfully intercepted the target using the C-Dome defense system”.
C-Dome is the naval version of Rafael’s Iron Dome air and missile defence system and is integrated on the Israeli Navy’s four Sa’ar 6 corvettes.
The recent combat interceptions by C-Dome follow a series of comprehensive tests over the last several years leading up to the system’s operationalisation.
“C-Dome serves as a critical layer of defense in Israel’s multi-layered air defense array, relying on the Iron Dome system interceptor, which to-date has achieved over 6,000 combat interceptions,” Rafael stated in a press release. “C-Dome is capable of addressing existing and future threats that naval forces may encounter, including rockets, cruise missiles, sea-skimming missiles and drones.”
In 2023 Rafael unveiled the C-Dome system’s mission modular configuration to provide unprotected vessels, as well as vessels that lack adequate air defences, with advanced and complementary capabilities against multiple, simultaneous attacks from a wide range of threats. Integration of this system does not require deck penetration, vessel hull retrofit, cable routing or any other kind of complex platform integration, while the system’s open architecture enables compatibility with a ship’s sensors and combat management system.
While Rafael is the prime contractor and developer of the Iron Dome and C-Dome systems, Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta Systems has developed the system’s radar, while mPrest, a Rafael subsidiary, has developed the system’s command-and-control systems.
The development of these systems is overseen by the Israel Missile Defense Organization: a division of the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s Directorate for Defense Research and Development (DDR&D).
