Australia is considering buying Iron Dome interceptors made by Rafael, Globes reports, citing Australian broadcaster SBS. US-made Patriot systems are also being evaluated. Australian defense officials told a parliamentary hearing they aim to set up an enhanced missile defense system by the beginning of the next decade.
The interceptors under consideration are not those made in Israel but those produced in the US by R2S, the joint venture of Rafael and Raytheon (RTX), at a plant opened in Arkansas in 2024. The plant makes Tamir interceptors and SkyHunter, the US version intended for the Marine Corps and other customers. According to the report, buying through the US is meant to avoid political criticism of Israel within Australia.
The hearing was also told that drone incursions into Australian defense facilities rose from 19 in 2022 to 2,024 last year. According to SBS, the US Marine Corps tested truck-mounted medium-range interceptor systems, the type Australia is interested in, in an exercise on Guam in June in which Australia also took part.