The first Tamir interceptor built and assembled entirely in the United States was handed to the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) on Wednesday at a ceremony in East Camden, Arkansas, Arutz Sheva reported. Tamir is the missile fired by Iron Dome, the air and missile defense system that shields Israel from a wide range of threats.
The interceptor was produced at the facility of Raytheon-Rafael Area Protection Systems (R2S), the joint venture between Raytheon and Israel's Rafael. The Camden plant was built to make Tamirs and is the first site outside Israel to manufacture the complete interceptor. It will also produce SkyHunter, the American variant of Tamir, for the US Marine Corps' Medium-Range Intercept Capability system, Israel Hayom reported.
IMDO Director Moshe Patel presented the new line as part of his organization's push to accelerate production across all of Israel's missile defense systems. He said US funding for the joint programs, including emergency supplemental funding, is reinvested in America's industrial base, strengthening production capacity and both countries' ability to protect their citizens.
"Israel's multi-layered missile defense array, and Iron Dome in particular, has repeatedly demonstrated in recent years its crucial role in saving lives and reducing damage from a wide range of threats," Patel said.
IMDO is part of the Defense Ministry's Directorate of Defense Research and Development, known by its Hebrew acronym MAFAT. IMDO is responsible for the Israeli Air Force's air and missile defense architecture. It leads development and co-production of the David's Sling and Arrow systems. It also co-produces Iron Dome with the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA), its partner in the cooperative US-Israel program. Rafael was prime contractor for the Tamir, which was developed under IMDO's leadership. Rafael and Raytheon have shared Tamir production for more than a decade under US workshare requirements for Iron Dome.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders attended the handover. Other guests included Maj. Gen. Jason D. Cothern, the MDA's deputy director and acting director for test; Maj. Gen. Tal Politis, the IDF's military attaché in Washington; Adi Farjon, Israel's consul general to the Southwest; Patel; Shlomo Toaff, Rafael's executive vice president and head of its Air and Missile Defense Division; and R2S CEO Jonathan Casey.
Toaff said the plant gives customers who rely on Tamir "another reliable source" and supports the Marine Corps' SkyHunter. "When we started developing Iron Dome, a lot of people said it couldn't be done. Our engineers proved them wrong," he said. He added that "fifteen years after its first operational interception, Iron Dome has made more than 10,000 successful interceptions." Toaff described Rafael's approach in the US as "Israeli engineering, American production, each making the other stronger."
Rafael also plans to move Iron Dome work into Germany. On September 7, the company, the state of Lower Saxony and Aurelius Capital signed a letter of intent to buy Volkswagen's Osnabrück plant to produce Iron Dome components, The Jerusalem Post reported. The Tamir itself will not be built there.
