The Supreme Court refuses to intervene in a government decision to deploy the Iron Dome system, and not the Nautilus, for protection against Hamas and Hizbullah rockets.
Several dozen residents of the southern city of Sderot, led by Alon Davidi, Chairman of the Committee for a Secure Sderot, had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the Defense Ministry’s decision to choose the Iron Dome defense system over the Nautilus.
Davidi, a former mayoral and Knesset candidate, and his neighbors claimed that the Nautilus is significantly cheaper to operate, and that the decision was made by a committee whose members had strong conflicts of interest.
Supreme Court justices Naor, Gronis and Hendel ruled that the considerations involved in choosing one anti-rocket system over another are beyond their own capabilities. They said they could not intervene in a government decision of this nature.
The plaintiffs, from the city that has been hit by thousands of rockets, more than any other city in Israel, said that the Nautilus system would cost $1.2 billion for 34 arrays, which would cover all of northern Israel as well as from Ashkelon to Gaza. Each rocket intercepted by Nautilus would cost up to another $3,000. Iron Dome, on the other hand, would cost $100,000 for each interception, and its one-time cost is not yet known.
Furthermore, the plaintiffs say, the decision was made partly because of business connections between Rafael Israel Aircraft Industries, which developed Iron Dome, and Singapore, for which it was originally constructed.
Nautilus is also known as THEL (Tactical High Energy Laser), or SkyGuard. Though it has intercepted many test rockets successfully, it is known to have a shorter range than Iron Dome, and is nearly ineffective in cloudy and foggy conditions.
Iron Dome, on the other hand, is said to be operational under adverse weather conditions, both day and night. It will also be capable of responding to multiple threats simultaneously. The system is designed to counter short-range rockets and 155mm artillery shells with a range of up to 70 kilometers. Iron Dome has three central components: Detection and tracking radar built by Israeli defense company Elta, a battle management and weapon control center; and the unit that fires the interceptor missiles which are equipped with electro-optic sensors and several steering fins for high maneuverability.
The system's radar identifies the rocket launch and calculates its trajectory, then transfers the information to the control center which determines the projected impact location. If the projectile constitutes a threat, then an interceptor missile is fired to detonate the rocket far from the impact area.
