Missile defense

Raytheon Partners With Israel's Rafael to Build Iron Dome Missile Defense for U.S.

For nearly a decade, Raytheon Technologies (NYSE:RTX) has been assisting Israeli defense company Rafael with development and marketing of the latter's Iron Dome missile defense system, used to intercept and destroy incoming drones, cruise missiles, rockets, and mortar and artillery shells. Now, Raytheon will get a chance to help build Iron Dome missiles as well.

On Monday, Raytheon and Rafael announced they're taking their collaboration on Iron Dome to a new level. Forming a new joint venture in the U.S., the two defense companies will jointly produce Iron Dome missiles in the U.S., for sale to the U.S. military and potential foreign allies.  

Iron Dome is famed as the missile defense system that Israel used during Hamas attacks against it in conflicts in last 2012, and subsequently. Out of 500-plus hostile missiles launched at Israel from Gaza between Nov. 14 and Nov. 21, 2012, that posed a threat to Israeli population centers, Iron Dome missiles reportedly destroyed 85% of their assigned targets -- meaning the missile defense system could be as much as twice as effective as Raytheon's own Patriot missile system, built in cooperation with Lockheed Martin.