Iran attacks Israel | How Israel and its allies intercepted more than 300 missiles and drones launched by Iran | How does the Iron Dome work?

A formidable defense system destroyed 99% of the missiles and drones launched by Iran contra Israela country that had the cooperation of USAfriendly Middle Eastern nations such as Jordan, and the United Kingdom to confront the unprecedented offensive of the Islamic Republic.

So, it wasn’t just the world-famous Iron Dome responsible for the massive attack of Iran It would not bring great destruction or deaths.

On Sunday, the army of Israel reported that more than 300 projectiles were fired into the country. Of the around 185 drones launched by Iran, none reached Israeli territory; while 25 of some 30 cruise missiles were intercepted, as were almost all of the more than 120 ballistic missiles sent.

Iran attacked Israel in revenge for the death of seven Guardians of the Revolution among them the general Mohammad Reza Zahedi commander of operations Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, in the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus occurred on April 1.

Days after, Iran He gave signs that he was planning a forceful response on Israeli territory. Even Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei there said it publicly three times.

So, Israel was already warned. As the Israeli newspaper Haaretz points out, at this point extensive preparations began to confront the announced attack. The president’s government Joe Biden and the prime minister’s administration Benjamin Netanyahu they promoted a regional defense plan against drones and missiles with the cooperation of European countries and several Sunni States in the Middle East region. This regional defense system has been baptized by the Americans with the name MEAD (Middle East Air Defense Alliance).

Haaretz explained that one of the backbones of the defense plan is a network made up of sensors deployed in different countries. Besides, Israel contributed advanced discovery and interception capabilities through its multilayer defense systems. The other partners contributed radars located near the border with Iran.

Evidence of the system’s success is the more than 300 drones and missiles of various types destroyed. A significant portion of the threats were intercepted outside Israeli territory, in the skies of Jordan e Irak. Only a few ballistic missiles fell in open areas of Israel, mainly in the Negev in the south, where a 7-year-old Bedouin girl suffered serious injuries. There was also some damage to an Air Force base in Nevatim.

In Israeli territory, together with defense systems Iron Dome and ArrowIsraeli and American pilots shot down numerous cruise missiles and drones.

On Sunday, the political analyst Tal Schneider wrote in “The Times of Israel” that “it is time for Israel to face reality: if it were not for our regional partners, including Jordan, the country would be completely different this morning”.

He mentioned the key role of the pilots of the Jordanian Air Force to repel Iranian long-range missiles and drone swarms. “Jordan even absorbed some of the shrapnel from interceptions that fell on its territory, and there were reports of several injuries,” he said.

Regarding the results for IranHaaretz pointed out that The intention of that country was to demonstrate its capabilities with an attack on military objectives. An analysis of the areas in which the warnings were issued suggests that the target could have been the air base of Nevatimin the south of Israel. Apparently, The Iranians planned to destroy the base and the advanced F-35 fighter jets stationed there, which are the most sophisticated weapons that the United States has sold to Israel. Iran failed in this objective.

The EFE agency interviewed Raffaele Mauriello, an Iran specialist and professor at the Allame Tabatabaí University in Tehran, who said that the Iranian response responded more to a “spectacle” than to an attack, with drones that took hours to arrive followed by missiles. But he believes that with that “balanced” response Iran wanted to show Israel that they too can “attack directly” whenever they want.

“Not everyone believed that Iran could hit Israel precisely and without the need to raise the tone,” he said from Tehran.

What are Israel’s defense systems like?

That’s how it is Israel’s multi-layered defense system:

Iron Dome, also known as Iron Dome: It was developed by Israel with the backing of the United States and specializes in shooting down short-range rockets, missiles, artillery shells, drones and other aerial threats. It has intercepted thousands of projectiles since it was activated early last decade, including thousands of interceptions during the ongoing war against Hamas and Hezbollah. According to Tel Aviv, it has a success rate of over 90%. Therefore, it is considered one of the best air defense systems in the world.

It has an approximate range of up to 70 km and It has three central components that form a unit: the detection and tracking radar, the battle and weapons management control, and the missile launcher armed with 20 Tamir missiles.

It was designed by the company Rafael Advanced Defense System LTD, a private firm with close ties to the Israeli armed forces that builds air, sea and land defense systems.

It also had financing of more than US$200 million from the United States.

Arrow: Developed jointly with the United States, it is designed to intercept long-range missiles, including ballistic ones that Iran launched on Saturday. He Arrowwhich operates outside the atmosphere, has been used in the current war to intercept long-range missiles launched by Houthi militants in Yemen.

Uses advanced radars to detect and track incoming missiles. These radars can identify threats at long distances and at high altitudes. Once the enemy missile is detected, the Arrow is launched. It can reach the upper layer of the atmosphere located at more than 500 kilometers in altitude.

When the propulsion tanks of the Arrow They come into action, propelling it at high speed towards its objective. It then detaches its warheads and tracks its targets to shoot them down.

David’s Honda: Also developed with the United States, its mission is to intercept drones and medium-range missiles, such as those that Hezbollah possesses in Lebanon.

Patriot: American-made system, it is the oldest anti-missile defense weapon that Israel has. It is mostly used to shoot down aircraft, including drones.

Iron Beam: Israel is developing a new system to intercept incoming threats with laser technology. The country has said that this system will be a game-changer because it is much cheaper to operate than existing ones. It is not yet operational.