The newly revealed test at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, which took place in mid-June, was carried out in conjunction with the Israel Missile Defense Organization, according to a statement from the Israeli Defense Ministry. Moshe Patel, the director of the organization, said that during the test, “the system intercepted all the threats, while being interoperable with U.S. systems.”

The ministry noted the test “took a critical step toward fielding the first of two Iron Dome Defense System-Army (IDDS-A) batteries.”

“As part of the U.S. Army’s operational training, American troops operated the system, which functioned with optimal effectiveness against a variety of threats and intercepted targets from different ranges,” said Pini Yungman, an executive vice president and head of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ air and missile defense unit. The Israeli company helps manufacture Iron Dome.

Statements from the Defense Ministry and Rafael both noted that testing “prepares the system for U.S. operational forces’ use by ensuring it meets U.S. Army safety standards and that the system will effectively operate within the U.S. AMD [air and missile defense] architecture.”

According to the statements, the U.S. Army plans to field the two Iron Dome Defense System-Army batteries as an interim cruise missile defense solution. The service has deployed one Iron Dome system to Guam since the fall of 2021.

“It’s important to understand that implementation for the U.S. is about the ability to integrate this system into our air defense picture,” said Maj. Gen. Brian Gibson, director of the U.S. Army’s Air and Missile Defense Cross-Functional Team, said following the test. “We need to integrate this into our U.S. architecture, and to give confidence to our regional commanders that we can integrate this system safely into what they have.”

Iron Dome is designed for use at fixed and semi-fixed locations to defend against “sub-sonic Cruise Missiles (CM), Groups 2 and 3 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), and rockets, artillery, and mortar threats,” the statement added, referring to a system by which drones are categorized by weight.

The test comes two weeks after the U.S. Marine Corps carried out a successful test of the Iron Dome’s Tamir missile at the same range.

Rafael in the early 2000s developed Iron Dome, which uses radar from Israel Aerospace Industries subsidiary Elta Systems. In the U.S., Rafael partners with Raytheon Technologies to produce the system.

“Future variants of the IFPC [Indirect Fire Protection Capability] program include technology insertions such as directed energy,” the recent Israeli statements said. The addition of directed-energy — or laser — technology to the Iron Dome system was shown to U.S. President Joe Biden when he visited Israel.

Iron Dome has been active for more than a decade with the Israel Defense Forces. It was initially used against short-range rocket threats from the Gaza Strip, but it has since received upgrades to confront numerous types of emerging threats. In May 2021, it was publicly revealed to have intercepted a drone for the first time during combat.

The Israel Missile Defense Organization, a division of the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development, leads the development of Israel’s multitiered air defense systems, including Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow. The U.S. Congress has supported all three systems. The IMDO partners with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency on systems such as Arrow-4.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi met with the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie on Sept. 1 to discuss regional challenges, an IDF statement said.

“The Chief of the General Staff expressed his appreciation for U.S. commitment to the security of the State of Israel. The Generals expressed their expectation of deepening cooperation between the IDF and CENTCOM,” the statement read.

The CENTCOM change also follows several joint exercises between Israeli F-35 squadrons and American F-35s flying from Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. These drills, dubbed Enduring Lightning, took place in 2020 and came as Israel finalized the Abraham Accords with the UAE and Bahrain that same year.

And last month, Israeli and U.S. forces held joint naval drills as part of the exercise Noble Waters, with the IDF calling it “the beginning of joint efforts between the Israeli Navy and the U.S. Fifth Fleet, as part of the transitioning of IDF matters to the U.S. Central Command.”

However, CENTCOM could always carry out drills with Israel regardless of whether the country was part of its area of operations and regardless of the location of American warplanes.

Realignment was supported by retired Israeli Brig. Gen. Assaf Orion and retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, who wrote in a paper for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in January that despite deep regional cooperation between the two countries, “it became increasingly clear that the threats in question were a mismatch with the existing organizational boundaries.”

“EUCOM was assisting in Israel’s defense, the incoming threats were from CENTCOM’s area — between Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen,” they wrote.

The Jewish Institute for National Security of America also advocated for the move in November, noting that “the recent Abraham Accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain both reflect and augur a growing strategic alignment between Israel and key American partners in the Middle East, driven primarily by the worsening Iranian nuclear and regional threats. The next crucial step is for the United States to relocate Israel to the area of responsibility (AOR) for American forces in the Middle East, known as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).”

The Pentagon officially announced the move on Jan. 15, noting that when CENTCOM was set up in 1983, many Mideast countries didn’t recognize Israel. Conflicts, such as the 1991 Gulf War, were made more complex by then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s targeting of Israel with missiles as well as the chance that Israel might intervene.

The IDF has focused on several new exercises with the U.S. and other allies in the last year, and on expanding existing joint drills such as Blue Flag and Noble Dina to include more countries. This included the Falcon Strike exercise in Italy and the Juniper Falcon 21 drill in February, which fell under EUCOM’s area of responsibility.

There was also one-day Tri-Lightning exercise in June with Israeli, British and American F-35s. It involved active and passive air defense operations, according to the U.S. Air Force. And in July, Israel hosted its first Blue Guardian joint UAV drill with five other countries, including the U.S.

In the long term the U.S. is still assessing a variety of other options, but the U.S. has been examining acquisition of several batteries of the Iron Dome since mid-2018 to fill the Army’s Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2 needs. Initial reports indicated the U.S. would spend $373 million to purchase two Iron Dome batteries. The Iron Dome is one part of Israel’s multi-layered missile defense, including David’s Sling and Arrow 3, all developed with U.S. support.

Developed as a short-range anti-rocket system by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Iron Dome fires a Tamir interceptor at incoming threats. The U.S. has spent $1.39 billion supporting the Iron Dome program, with Raytheon partnering with Rafael for coproduction in 2014. The NDAA in fiscal 2018 supported $92 million for Iron Dome and the FY2019 allocated $70 million.

Iron Dome was declared operational in 2011 and has proved itself in confronting a variety of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle threats against Israel in conflicts in 2012, 2014 and also in recent clashes along the Gaza and Syrian border. It has intercepted more than 1,500 targets at a 90 percent success rate. The range of threats it confronts have been expanded over time, including UAVs, cruise missiles and mortars. Most recently, in mid-January it was activated against a rocket fired from Syria.

The decision to procure Iron Dome comes on the heels of a variety of joint Israel-U.S. programs and defense systems that are increasingly outfitting U.S. forces. In January the US increased its purchases of Leonardo DRS-Rafael Trophy active protection systems for the M1 Abrams. The U.S. is also moving forward with equipping Bradley Fighting Vehicles with the Iron Fist Light APS. Iron Fist was developed by IMI systems and Elbit along with General. Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical systems.