what is iron dome missile defence system

Iron Dome is an Israeli mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. It is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 to 70 kilometers away and whose trajectory would take them to an Israeli populated area. The system uses radar to track incoming rockets and can differentiate between those that are likely to hit built-up areas and those that are not. If the rocket poses a threat, a command and control center can respond by launching its own Tamir missile to intercept it. Each launcher contains 20 interceptors and is independently deployed and operated remotely via a secure wireless connection. The system consists of batteries located across Israel, each with three to four launchers that can fire 20 interceptor missiles. The Iron Dome is just one layer of Israels missile defense network, as it also has systems for low to mid-range, upper-atmospheric and exo-atmospheric threats. The system was first used in combat in 2011 and has a very high effectiveness rate compared to other air defense systems.