I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3186 

To authorize the Secretary of the Army to procure two Iron Dome shortrange rocket defense system batteries, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 10, 2019 

Ms. SHERRILL (for herself and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Army to procure two 

Iron Dome short-range rocket defense system batteries, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘U.S.-Israel Indirect 

5 Fire Protection Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) On July 27, 2012, the United States-Israel 

9 Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 (Public 

10 Law 112–150; 22 U.S.C. 8601 et seq.) declared it 


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1 to be the policy of the United States ‘‘to help the 

2 Government of Israel preserve its qualitative military 

3 edge amid rapid and uncertain regional political 

4 transformation’’ and ‘‘provide Israel defense articles 

5 and services, to include air refueling tankers, missile 

6 defense capabilities, and specialized munitions’’. 

7 (2) On December 19, 2014, the President 

8 signed into law the United States-Israel Strategic 

9 Partnership Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–296) 

10 which stated the sense of Congress that Israel is a 

11 major strategic partner of the United States and de12 clared it to be the policy of the United States ‘‘to 

13 continue to provide Israel with robust security as14 sistance, including for the procurement of the Iron 

15 Dome Missile Defense System’’. 

16 (3) In 2014, both governments signed a co-pro17 duction agreement to produce Iron Dome’s compo18 nents in the United States. 

19 (4) The United States has provided more than 

20 $1,400,000,000 to Israel for Iron Dome batteries, 

21 coproduction costs, and general maintenance. 

22 (5) More than 70 percent of the Iron Dome in23 terceptor is manufactured in the United States. 

24 (6) The Iron Dome system is now a fielded, 

25 battle-tested capability in Israel with more than 


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1 1,700 confirmed air defense intercepts and provides 

2 a rapid approach to delivering air defense capabili3 ties for the United States. 

4 (7) As outlined in the National Defense Strat5 egy, the Army has critical capability gaps for cruise 

6 missile defense, as well as counter-unmanned aerial 

7 systems and counter-rocket, artillery, and mortars. 

8 (8) In October 2018, the Army reported to 

9 Congress that, ‘‘The Iron Dome System has capa10 bility against cruise missiles, unmanned aircraft sys11 tems, and rocket, artillery, and mortar fire,’’ and 

12 ‘‘provides the best value to the Army as an interim 

13 capability.’’. 

14 (9) In February 2019, the Army Futures Com15 mand issued a statement noting an ‘‘intent to pro16 cure a limited number of Iron Dome weapon systems 

17 to fill its short-term need for an interim Indirect 

18 Fire Protection Capability.’’. 

19 (10) The Army reported to Congress that ‘‘Iron 

20 Dome meets the Army’s modernization vision of 

21 rapid deployment of a mature and affordable weapon 

22 system.’’. 

23 (11) Any delay in procuring the Iron Dome bat24 teries for the Army jeopardizes the ability of the 

25 Army to field an initial capability in 2020 and creVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3186.IH H3186

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1 ates continued risk to warfighters by leaving this 

2 identified critical capability gap unfulfilled. 

3 (12) At an April 2, 2019, hearing by the Com4 mittee on Armed Services of the House of Rep5 resentatives, the Chief of Staff of the Army General 

6 Mark Milley stated, ‘‘The Iron Dome is a very capa7 ble system. It has basically a 100 percent track 

8 record in combat. We clearly need it to protect our 

9 formations, and we are buying the two batteries.’’. 

10 (13) Section 112 of the John S. McCain Na11 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

12 2019 (Public Law 115–232) provides that— 

13 (A) if the Secretary of Defense certifies the 

14 need for the Army to deploy an interim missile 

15 defense capability, the Secretary of the Army 

16 shall deploy at least two batteries to provide 

17 such capability not later than September 30, 

18 2020, and an additional two batteries not later 

19 than September 30, 2023; and 

20 (B) to meet such deadlines for deployment, 

21 the Secretary of the Army may— 

22 (i) deploy such systems that ‘‘require 

23 the least amount of development’’; and 

24 (ii) use any authority of the Secretary 

25 relating to acquisition, technology transfer, 


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1 and personnel management that the Sec2 retary considers appropriate, including 

3 rapid acquisition and rapid prototyping au4 thorities, to resource and procure an in5 terim missile defense capability. 

6 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO PROCURE IRON DOME BATTERIES. 

7 (a) AUTHORITY.—Pursuant to paragraph (3) of sec8 tion 112(b) of the John S. McCain National Defense Au9 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 115– 

10 232), the Secretary of the Army may procure two Iron 

11 Dome batteries to carry out paragraph (1)(A) of such sec12 tion to deploy an interim missile defense capability by not 

13 later than September 30, 2020. 

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated $9,337,000 to the Secretary 

16 of the Army to carry out subsection (a). 

Æ 


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