On April 7, Iron Dome turned fifteen. Over 10,000 combat intercepts. A success rate exceeding ninety per cent. And yet the most consequential fact about Israel’s celebrated shield is not what it has done, but what it has set in motion. From Washington to Seoul to Berlin, every serious government on earth is now scrambling to acquire what Israel has possessed since 2011: the ability to not be hit.

The rush is staggering. On April 21, the Pentagon unveiled Golden Dome — a $17.9 billion “system of systems” designed to protect the continental United States against hypersonic glide vehicles, cruise missiles, and advanced ballistic threats from China and Russia. South Korea is accelerating its own Korean Air and Missile Defense system to 2029, two years ahead of schedule, investing 842 billion won to counter North Korea’s expanding long-range artillery. Twenty-four European states have joined the German-led European Sky Shield Initiative, with Berlin procuring Israel’s Arrow 4 to plug the continent’s most dangerous gap. NATO’s own ballistic missile defence network intercepted Iranian missiles targeting Turkey in March 2026 — a first operational test that proved both the system’s worth and Europe’s vulnerability.

Everyone, it seems, needs an Iron Dome. The question is: what does one actually cost — and what does it cost to go without?

The Interceptor Burn Rate

Israel understood early that missile defence, however expensive, is cheaper than absorbing strikes. The recent conflicts have vindicated that logic — and exposed its fragility. During the June 2025 twelve-day war with Iran, the United States fired approximately 150 THAAD interceptors — roughly a quarter of its entire purchased inventory — and around 80 SM-3 missiles from naval vessels. Within days of the February 2026 strikes, estimates suggested that Arab countries using American systems may have........

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