Israel's Iron Dome air defence system is not realistic for Europe, expert says

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's recent call for Europe to build its own Israeli Iron Dome-style air defence system has been criticised at the London Defence Conference.

The UK is among the Nato nations that have joined the German-led European Sky Shield Initiative built around the joint acquisition of air defence equipment and missiles by European nations.

It was launched in 2022 and aims to build a ground-based integrated air defence system to protect European air space.

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Dr Ulrike Franke of the European Council on Foreign Relations voiced her concerns about adopting a model similar to the Israeli Iron Dome in Europe.

Dr Franke acknowledged the fact that the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East had highlighted Europe's weakness in air defence.

But she warned: "I'm extremely wary about this image of the Iron Dome, about the umbrella over Europe, one country or, let's be honest, even over one city."

The expert said Israel was unique because it was a small country that could predict where any air attacks were likely to come from, while an Iron Dome over Europe was not a realistic proposition.

"Europe will not be able - will never be able - to put any kind of real umbrella over all of its countries, all of its cities," she explained.

She stressed that at the moment Europe had no way of properly protecting itself from missile attacks, but suggested it would be developed, adding: "Let's not pretend that we're not going to put up an umbrella over Europe."

Former US official James Shinn also touched on the challenges to air defence, saying: "There's almost no defence against these hypersonic missiles.

"It's like these high-speed drones. You have to detect them, then you have to identify what they are, then you have to decide on a countermeasure - and by then you're over."

With the more frequent use of drones on the battlefield, artificial intelligence and autonomy were discussed as potential solutions to protect Europe's airspace.