On April 9, the Israeli military said it had used its sea-based missile defense system for the first time to shoot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) approaching from the Red Sea.
Eilat is frequently targeted by missile launches by Houthi forces in Yemen, in a show of support for the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said one of its missile boats deployed in the Red Sea shot down the drone using a new system called C-Dome. “For the first time, an IDF Sa’ar class 6 missile corvette successfully intercepted a UAV approaching from the east and entering the area of the Gulf of Eilat,” the military said in a statement.
C-Dome uses interceptors similar to the land-based Iron Dome to defend against shorter-range missiles and drones. It complements the Arrow-3 multi-layered air defense system, which is designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside the Earth's atmosphere.