Iron Dome

Israel's Iron Dome defence system has long shielded it from incoming rockets. Now it is building a "cyber dome" to defend against online attacks, especially from arch foe Iran.

"It is a silent war, one which is not visible," said Aviram Atzaba, the Israeli National Cyber Directorate's head of international cooperation.

We often talk of Israel as an example we should learn from in a number of areas. One of them, and an extremely important one, is defense.

In that context it is a welcome development that Athens has announced plans to develop a system similar to the Iron Dome, Israel's missile defense system developed with US assistance, aimed at safeguarding the country against attacks from the air.

Vassilis Nedos, Kathimerini's defense and diplomatic editor, joins Thanos Davelis to explore Defense Minister Nikos Dendias' plan for a defense system for Greece similar to Israel's Iron Dome, discuss the view from Athens following Iran's attack on Israel, and look at the key takeaways from the EU summit on Cyprus.

The reference on Wednesday by Defense Minister Nikos Dendias to the need for a protective anti-aircraft system brought back to the fore a debate which has being continuing at the level of the country's military leadership over the last few years - long before the demonstration of Israel's capabilities against enemy missiles and rockets.

Greece has plans to develop an air defense system akin to Israel's sophisticated Iron Dome, aimed at safeguarding the country against airborne threats, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias told Skai TV Wednesday.

Germany will buy Israel's Iron Dome air defense system, Politico reported. The budget committee of the Bundestag approved the payment of the first tranche of 560 million euros for the purchase of the Israeli Arrow-3 air defense system.

Four decades after the Reagan Doctrine and the launch of the "Star Wars program" to deploy advanced weapons including the use of high-energy laser beams to counter enemy ballistic nuclear attacks, Israel managed to implement Reagan's strategic thinking in actual defense technology by developing the "Iron Beam" air defense system.

The U.S. Congress voted on a spending plan on Sept. 30 to keep the government running past a midnight deadline, but only temporarily. 

During the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, thousands of rockets were fired across the border on both sides, and the "Iron Dome" shot down most of those flying to Israeli cities. However, that air defense system at one point "got confused and shot down the drone of the Israeli forces", "Haaretz" writes.

Romania is the first country to buy Israel's Iron Dome short-range rocket interception system after the state-owned company Romaero signed a deal on Thursday with Israel's Rafael Advanced Systems.

The deal signed in Bucharest was disclosed by the Israeli manufacturer in a press release to the Israeli media. The Romanian buyer did not release any information.