The Israeli Air Defense Command (in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: מערך ההגנה האווירית) is the

Israeli Air and Space Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

unit responsible for the surface front of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's air defense, complementing the air defense provided by Fighter squadrons. Initially a part of the IDF

Artillery Corps Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications dur ...

, since 1970 the Air Defense Command has been subordinate to the Israeli Air and Space Force. Flag of the Israeli Air Defense Network

History

During the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, the Air Defense Network was part of the Artillery Corps, primarily relying on

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

s. During the 1960s, 40 mm

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

-guided anti-aircraft guns were introduced, and in 1965,

MIM-23 Hawk The Raytheon MIM-23 HAWK ("Homing all the way killer") is an American medium-range surface-to-air missile. It was designed to be a much more mobile counterpart to the MIM-14 Nike Hercules, trading off range and altitude capability for a much sm ...

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

s. The latter were operated by the Air Force's surface-to-air units. In the 1970s, the entire Air Defense Network was merged with the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

. The Air Defense Command operated many

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

-developed short-range system such as the

, the

MIM-72 Chaparral The MIM-72A/M48 Chaparral is an American-made self-propelled surface-to-air missile system based on the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile system. The launcher is based on the M113 family of vehicles. It entered service with the United States A ...

and

M163 VADS The M163 Vulcan Air Defense System (VADS) is a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) that was used by the United States Army. The M168 gun is a variant of the General Dynamics M61 Vulcan rotary cannon, the standard cannon in most U.S. combat ...

("Hovet"). The Air Defense Command scored world premier interceptions with most of these systems, mainly against the

Syrian Air Force ) , mascot = , anniversaries = 16 October , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War * Six-Day War * Yom Kippur War ...

. Due to increasing rocket threat from the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

, Israeli-developed

Iron Dome Iron Dome ( he, כִּפַּת בַּרְזֶל, Kippat Barzel) is a mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short- ...

C-RAM system became operational in 2011. In 2011 the system scored its first interception and since then intercepted hundreds of short- and medium-ranged rockets, fired by

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

from the Gaza Strip, gaining world acclaim for its effectiveness and success. On 23 September 2014, a Syrian Air Force

Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, night fighter, all-weather attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, Twinjet, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for it ...

was shot down by an IAF

MIM-104 Patriot The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied states. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and derives its name from the radar compon ...

surface-to-air missile battery, after allegedly crossing the Syrian-Israeli ceasefire line during a ground attack mission against Syrian opposition forces. This was the first operational shot down of manned enemy aircraft for the Patriot in the world. Few months earlier, Israeli Patriot batteries shot down 2

drones.

Operation Guardian of the Walls, May 2021

Weapons and equipment

"Yahalom", a high to medium air defense (HIMAD) medium tactical air defense platform capable of downing aircraft and

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

s. Israel's Patriot missile systems have been technologically upgraded since entering service. During 2014 Israeli "Yahalom" MIM-104D batteries achieved the system's first shoot-downs against enemy aircraft (both manned and unmanned). * Arrow missile, an Israeli developed - US funding theatre missile defence (TMD) system meant to stop ballistic missiles in the

stratosphere The stratosphere () is the second layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air ...

. Israel has batteries of

Arrow 2 The Arrow or ''Hetz'' ( he , חֵץ, ) is a family of anti-ballistic missiles designed to fulfill an Israeli requirement for a missile defense system that would be more effective against ballistic missiles than the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air ...

and

Arrow 3 The Arrow 3 or ''Hetz 3'' ( he, חֵץ 3, ) is an exoatmospheric hypersonic anti-ballistic missile, jointly funded, developed and produced by Israel and the United States. Undertaken by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Boeing, it is oversee ...

missiles. *

David's Sling David's Sling ( he, קלע דוד, Kela David), also formerly known as Magic Wand ( he , שרביט קסמים, Sharvit Ksamim , links= no), is an Israel Defense Forces military system being jointly developed by the Israeli defense contractor Ra ...

missile, advanced medium- to long-range atmospheric missile defense interceptor. Capable of downing of any kind of advanced tactical ballistic missiles, advanced cruise missiles, large-caliber rockets, UAV, UCAV, fighter and bomber jets. *

, a short-range air defense system designed to defend against rockets, artillery shells, and precision-guided munitions. The first battery became operational in May 2010.

Organization

Although a part of the Air and Space Force, the command has the same unit structure as the Artillery Corps. Its current commander is

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Gilad Biran, who is directly subordinate to the commander of the Air and Space Force.

References

{{Israeli Air Force Air defence commands (military formations) Israeli Air Force