Update: RADA teases new exMHR radar for mobile Iron Dome variants

The RADA exMHR mounted on a JLTV in a quad configuration. (RADA)

On 14 November 2021 RADA announced the receipt of USD5 million for an initial pre-order of its extended multimission hemispheric radar (exMHR), with a computer-generated image of the radar mounted on a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) in a quad configuration, suggesting that the exMHR could be employed for a forthcoming mobile Iron Dome variant (I-Dome).

Accompanying the release, the product page for the exMHR on the company's website featured the same image, as well as an image of a Rheinmetall-MAN HX-series 6×6 truck fitted as a transporter, erector, launcher, and radar (TELAR) vehicle.

The second image was first seen at Eurosatory 2018 with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems I-Dome TELAR, with 10 Tamir missile launch containers mounted on the launch assembly, arranged in sealed ready-to-launch canisters inserted in a 2×5-cell hydraulically elevated canisterised launcher on the back of the truck. The exMHR was mounted in front, just aft of the cabin in a quad configuration, similar to the JLTV image but in an enclosed, truncated, pyramidical housing.

The radar used by the baseline Iron Dome system is the medium-range variant of the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Elta ELM-2084 multimission radar (MMR), designed for target detection and mid-course guidance of the Tamir interceptors. It was envisaged that a smaller, fixed four-panel variant of the ELM-2084 MMR would be used in the I-Dome.

In videos displayed at the Paris Air Show in 2019, the I-Dome system shows the quad-panel radar assembly in a raised configuration by a hydraulic mast, and rotated 45° in azimuth for radar coverage while operating on the move. However, it is understood that the vehicle would be required to come to a brief halt to conduct launches.