(Getty Images)
The United States and Israel marked a major milestone in defense cooperation with the delivery of the first U.S.-made Tamir interceptor missiles for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.
The interceptors were delivered to the Israel Missile Defense Organization during a ceremony Wednesday at a new $63 million manufacturing facility in East Camden, Arkansas.
The facility was established through Raytheon-Rafael Protection Systems (R2S), a joint venture between Israeli defense company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, a subsidiary of RTX.
The plant opened in November 2025 and is the first production site outside Israel to manufacture complete Tamir interceptors.
Attending Wednesday’s ceremony were Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Israel’s consul general to the Southwest United States, Adi Farjon Israel.
Other attendees included Pentagon representatives, Israel’s military attaché in Washington, Maj. Gen. Tal Politis, and senior officials from Rafael and Israel’s Defense Ministry.
“For the first time, we can produce these interceptors in the United States,” R2S CEO Jonathan Casey said in a news release. “Domestic production strengthens our industrial base and provides the U.S. and its allies with another reliable, scalable source for these critical defensive systems.”
The facility will expand joint U.S.-Israeli production capacity for missile defense systems. In addition to producing Tamir interceptors for Israel’s Iron Dome, the plant plans to manufacture SkyHunter, a U.S. variant of the missile, for the Marine Corps’ Medium-Range Intercept Capability air defense system.
The $63 million investment is expected to create up to 60 jobs, according to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
“We are proud to have turned this facility into a working production line,” Rafael Executive Vice President Shlomo Toaff said in a statement. “For the customers who depend on Tamir, that means another reliable source. For the U.S. Marine Corps, it supports SkyHunter. For Rafael, this is how we want to grow in America: Israeli engineering, American production, each making the other stronger.”
The ceremony took place on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks carried out by Iranian-backed Hamas in southern Israel.
“On the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks, I also want to take a moment to remember the more than 1,000 Israelis, Americans, and citizens of other countries who were brutally attacked, kidnapped, and murdered in the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust,” Cotton said, according to The Jerusalem Post.
“This joint venture, bringing together some of the leading companies in the United States and Israel, advances the national security and economic prosperity of both our countries.”
Sanders, whose father, Mike Huckabee, is the U.S. ambassador to Israel, welcomed the completion of the first U.S.-made interceptors.
“I was grateful for the opportunity to break ground on this facility in 2024, to cut the ribbon last November, and, today, to celebrate the completion of the first Tamir missiles produced here in the Natural State,” Sanders said, according to the Post.
“The ongoing partnership between the state of Arkansas, the community of Camden, and R2S is special, and I look forward to more announcements like this in the future.”
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.