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Afaik the Gaza rockets are just homemade flying pipes with no guidance (Iranians/Hezbollah keep the good stuff not to escalate the conflict). Costs $800 for th

Afaik the Gaza rockets are just homemade flying pipes with no guidance (Iranians/Hezbollah keep the good stuff not to escalate the conflict). Costs $800 for the Qassam vs $40,000 for Iron Dome missile.

simplyaccont 5y ago
They have also some Iranian rockets. Also they had some "tech transfers" from Iran/Hezbollah to improve targeting. This probably working as it looks like they targeted power plant and hit it's fuel storage tanks
- tibbydudeza 5y ago
  The rockets are meant as a psychological weapon rather than a means of warfare. Hamas don't care if 90% are destroyed by Iron Dome or the 10% land in empty fields or cause little damage.
  - simplyaccont 5y ago
    Those rockets really explode and kill people. Make holes in buildings. There is already a bunch of dead people and few tens of wounded. The only reasons that numbers are low it's that Iron Dome intercepts majority of rockets and that building code requires in every apartment bomb shelter (and in every commercial building )
    - tibbydudeza 5y ago
      Not denying that but the main aim is to terrorize.
      - simplyaccont 5y ago
        Well, killing people is great way to achieve it.
jessriedel 5y ago
Defense costs are always higher. A bullet runs about 25 cents, but bullet-proof jackets are hundreds of dollars. Still often worth it.
- itsyaboi 5y ago
  You kind of need something to shoot the bullet out of, no?
  - BugsJustFindMe 5y ago
    Ehhhhh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvised_firearm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvised_firearm
  - jessriedel 5y ago
    Guns are re-used for many bullets, jackets are not
- upofadown 5y ago
  I guess the vest thing is a good analogy to the weird politics here. The vest doesn't matter if enough bullets are fired. You are still dead. The Iron Dome thing has not entirely prevented the Palestinians from causing death and destruction in Israel and is thus a failure. It is clear that technological approaches will always be imperfect and that leaves the Palestinians with leverage for some sort of political solution to the current situation.
samus 5y ago
$40000 per missile seems like a decent price to me though. Compared to the property damage it avoids it's peanuts. At this point, Israel probably produces them in bulk, which helps keep costs. AA missiles are a different story in comparison.
JoeyBananas 5y ago
It's easy to think of artillery and rockets as something that can be lobbed at an enemy from a safe position, but that is generally not true. The range of most rockets and artillery is not as far as you might think. I estimate they are probably coming from less than 10km away. If you have drones in the air, it's very possible to find out where they are coming from and blow them up with counterbattery fire.
- DuskStar 5y ago
  Of course you then get yelled at for bombing schools/children/hospitals/infrastructure, because that's where the missiles were launched from.
- simplyaccont 5y ago
  >I estimate they are probably coming from less than 10km away. Currently rockets falling at northern Tel-Aviv (70km from Gaza) and been intercepted north of Tel-Aviv. Air defense alarms (they work based on estimated trajectory) are going on 30km north of Tel-Aviv. > If you have drones in the air, it's very possible to find out where they are coming from and blow them up with counterbattery fire. It's pointless. Most of launch sites are single use holes in a ground that were covered till it's time to shoot something.

simplyaccont 5y ago

They have also some Iranian rockets. Also they had some "tech transfers" from Iran/Hezbollah to improve targeting. This probably working as it looks like they targeted power plant and hit it's fuel storage tanks

tibbydudeza 5y ago
The rockets are meant as a psychological weapon rather than a means of warfare. Hamas don't care if 90% are destroyed by Iron Dome or the 10% land in empty fields or cause little damage.
- simplyaccont 5y ago
  Those rockets really explode and kill people. Make holes in buildings. There is already a bunch of dead people and few tens of wounded. The only reasons that numbers are low it's that Iron Dome intercepts majority of rockets and that building code requires in every apartment bomb shelter (and in every commercial building )
  - tibbydudeza 5y ago
    Not denying that but the main aim is to terrorize.
    - simplyaccont 5y ago
      Well, killing people is great way to achieve it.

jessriedel 5y ago

Defense costs are always higher. A bullet runs about 25 cents, but bullet-proof jackets are hundreds of dollars. Still often worth it.

itsyaboi 5y ago
You kind of need something to shoot the bullet out of, no?
- BugsJustFindMe 5y ago
  Ehhhhh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvised_firearm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvised_firearm
- jessriedel 5y ago
  Guns are re-used for many bullets, jackets are not
upofadown 5y ago
I guess the vest thing is a good analogy to the weird politics here. The vest doesn't matter if enough bullets are fired. You are still dead. The Iron Dome thing has not entirely prevented the Palestinians from causing death and destruction in Israel and is thus a failure. It is clear that technological approaches will always be imperfect and that leaves the Palestinians with leverage for some sort of political solution to the current situation.

samus 5y ago

$40000 per missile seems like a decent price to me though. Compared to the property damage it avoids it's peanuts. At this point, Israel probably produces them in bulk, which helps keep costs. AA missiles are a different story in comparison.

JoeyBananas 5y ago

It's easy to think of artillery and rockets as something that can be lobbed at an enemy from a safe position, but that is generally not true. The range of most rockets and artillery is not as far as you might think. I estimate they are probably coming from less than 10km away. If you have drones in the air, it's very possible to find out where they are coming from and blow them up with counterbattery fire.

DuskStar 5y ago
Of course you then get yelled at for bombing schools/children/hospitals/infrastructure, because that's where the missiles were launched from.
simplyaccont 5y ago
>I estimate they are probably coming from less than 10km away. Currently rockets falling at northern Tel-Aviv (70km from Gaza) and been intercepted north of Tel-Aviv. Air defense alarms (they work based on estimated trajectory) are going on 30km north of Tel-Aviv. > If you have drones in the air, it's very possible to find out where they are coming from and blow them up with counterbattery fire. It's pointless. Most of launch sites are single use holes in a ground that were covered till it's time to shoot something.