Quora Answer: How Can Singapore Have an Iron Dome System from Israel, When the US Does Not Have It?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How can Singapore have an Iron Dome defense system from Israel, when the US, which is Israel’s biggest ally, does not have it?” 

The United States has procured the Iron Dome II, and is currently being trained in it.  The Iron Dome system was officially developed by Raytheon Technologies Corporation of the US, and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.  That is not the whole story. 

Singapore has the Iron Dome because it saw a strategic need for it.  Singapore is between two halves of Malaysia – East Malaysia and Peninsula Malaysia, and there is little that we can do to stop Malaysian satellites passing overhead and having an accurate topographical map.  Malaysia has multiple-launch rocket systems as well as artillery.  The MLRS system is unguided, and they have not invested in their artillery capabilities due to budget constraints.  Singapore, however, does not play dice with national security. 

It is suspected that Singapore’s DSTA was involved in the development of the Iron Dome, and Singapore funded it.  Israel’s economy is weak because of decades of being on war footing.  They do not have the money to fund such a programme by themselves.  The US were not going to fund it because they saw no need for it then, and viewed it as a potential rival to their Patriot system.  It made sense for it to be developed, and field tested in Israel.  No other nation involved in the development of the weapon system actually had belligerents tossing rockets across the border. 

Now that the system is proven, the Americans suddenly found a need for it.  They stepped in and started funding improvements that met their specifications, including an increase in range from around 70 km to 250 km, and the ability to track more than one missile at a time from different trajectories.  This is a forward defence system to be deployed overseas, to protect American installations and assets in conflict zones.  This is especially pertinent with the proliferation of advanced drone technology, as demonstrated by the Houthis, in Yemen.  While the Patriot is effective, it is also expensive.  A Patriot PAC-3 missile costs around US$3 million each, while the Tamir missile is US$40,000.  It is not cost efficient to shoot down a Qassam rocket that costs US$800 to build with multi-million dollar missiles.