Israel Delivers First Batch of Tamir Interceptors to US Marine Corps

The Israeli Ministry of Defense and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems delivered the first batch of Tamir interceptors to the United States Marine Corps, Breaking Defense reported. The delivery was announced on Thursday and tied to the Modern Day Marine event held in Washington this week.

Rafael issued a statement on April 30 stating that this initial delivery supports the force-build-up of the first operational MRIC platoon.

The Tamir is the interceptor used in Israel’s Iron Dome system. This week’s delivery represents the first supply of interceptors in a multi-year program. Raytheon calls the Tamir interceptor the Sky Hunter.

Raytheon calls the David’s Sling Stunner interceptor the SkyCeptor. The system is intended to provide effective defense against cruise missiles, UAS, and other aerial threats as part of a layered and flexible air defense concept, Rafael stated.

The mobile system uses truck-mounted Iron Dome launcher with Tamir interceptors. The announcement was made by the Israel Missile Defense Organization and Rafael. In 2021, Israel delivered two Iron Dome batteries to the US Army.

In 2022, a series of live fire tests were conducted as part of three trials of the system, including an October 2022 test at White Sands test range which saw the continuous launch of interceptors from a mobile launcher developed by the Marines, Israel’s Ministry of Defense noted.

In October 2024, the Marines conducted their first live fire training with the interceptor integrated into their system.