FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL

Posted On

15
September
2021

U.S. Army's Iron Dome could be headed to Ukraine – media

KYIV. Sept 15 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Some Congress members have included an amendment attached to the 2022 defense bill that would pressure the Biden administration to sell or transfer new air and missile defense systems to Ukraine, including potentially sending an Iron Dome battery currently being operated by the U.S. Army, the U.S. Politico reported.

"Included in the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the fiscal 2022 defense policy bill is an amendment requiring the Pentagon to submit a report to Congress outlining options for potentially selling or transferring ‘existing systems’ to Ukraine that are likely not going to be deployed in the near-term," the Politico article published on Tuesday says.

It says that since being deployed in Israel in 2011, the system, built by the Israeli defense company Rafael in partnership with Raytheon, has proven itself one of the world’s most effective killers of short-range missiles.

"The Israeli military has said Iron Dome has knocked down about 90 percent of missiles fired into Israel over the past several years," the article reads.

It is noted that the HASC’s version of the fiscal 2022 defense bill that was approved on September 2 by a 57-2 margin doesn’t specify any particular weapons system to hand over to the Ukrainians.

"But one congressional staffer said the language about transferring current systems is telling, and that the Army’s two Iron Dome batteries are prime candidates because there are few relevant systems the Army possesses that could defeat the threat Ukraine faces from Russia," it says.