Iron Dome developers awarded Israel Defense Prize

President Shimon Peres on Monday awarded the Israel Defense Prize for 2012 to developers of the Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system. The engineers, who share the prestigious prize for developing the anti-rocket defense system, are employees of the Defense Ministry's Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (Maf'at), Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., mPrest Systems (which manufactures the Battle Management Control system), and the air force anti-aircraft unit that has been operating the Iron Dome batteries since April 2011.

Among those who received the prize was Maj. "M.," a Druze, resident of the north who participated in the system's development. M. was the first Druze to be appointed to Maf'at, which is considered an elite department within the Defense Ministry's weapons technology division.

M. entered Maf'at after completing engineering studies within the framework of the military academic program and serving in various capacities in the Israel Defense Forces communications branch and technological unit. In 2008, he was assigned to Maf'at and was placed in charge of Iron Dome's experimental operations.

M. says he debated with himself a long time whether or not to accept the position in Maf'at, a position considered critical in Israel's current reality. "The fact that I am a Druze was not an obstacle. There was a feeling of a first — the first time a Druze reached an elite development department within the Defense Ministry. It was very exciting and challenging. I wondered about accepting the position because the world of missiles was new to me and I was apprehensive about entering an area so complex, the development of which the entire country was anticipating," M. said.

After accepting the appointment, however, M. said he regretted not having accepted the position earlier. "People were positively surprised that I was in the program. I received and continue to receive support from everyone in the department."

Speaking about the Iron Dome system and its trials, M. said "When we first tested the system, the waiting period was unnerving. I knew that everyone wanted to see the system succeed and counted on me."

During the three years M. worked on the project, the system was tested 11 times. "These were very complicated tests. We worked around the clock to prepare the tests, which upon each move to a new location were supposed to take two years of preparation. We, however, accomplished the relocations and tests in weeks and months. No other system in the world has been developed in so short a period of time. Iron Dome was the best system of all those offered to us for development and it has yet to fulfill its potential capability," M. said.

Regarding the prize, M. said "I want to thank those who gave me the opportunity to take part in the project."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Defense Ministry Director-General Maj. Gen. (res.) Udi Shani decided to award the Israel Defense Prize for 2012 to the eight Iron Dome development engineers on June 24, after approving the recommendations of the Defense Prize committee. The committee is named after Eliyahu Golomb, founder of the pre-1948 underground Jewish defense force known as the Haganah.

At the time the decision was made, a statement by the Defense Ministry said that although the prize may be granted only to a maximum of eight people who were involved in the project, it in fact belongs to many others in the defense industry who worked on the system's development.

Iron Dome is the first operational system of its kind in the world that can intercept short-range rockets. The system became operational in 2011 after three years of development. To date, Iron Dome batteries have successfully intercepted more than 100 rockets launched against Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Maf'at and Rafael have supplied the IDF with four Iron Dome batteries so far, and the IDF has placed the batteries at different locations around the country.

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