Israel's Tiered Missile Defense Systems vs. Iran's Arsenal

New Delhi:

What weapons did Iran use to attack Israel on Tuesday evening? Iran has an arsenal of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones that have been used against Israel in the recent past. Iran is believed to have fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles on Tuesday evening.

Let's focus on that for a moment. Now Iran is initially operating a missile with a range of 300 km called Shahab-1. This is a relatively short-range missile that cannot hit Israel. It can only attack targets in a region far from Israel.

Another rocket is the Fateh rocket, which flies between 300 and 500 km. Again, this missile does not have the range to hit Israel.

The other missile is the Shahab 2, which has longer legs – 500 km, but still out of range to hit targets in Israel.

The Zolfaghar missile can barely hit Israel. The range is 700 km, so parts of Israel can just about be attacked by this missile.

VIDEO | Iran fires hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel

There is a missile called Qiam-1 with a range of 750 km, 50 km more than the Shahab-2. It is a comparatively more advanced missile that can attack some additional areas, but not deep inside Israel.

But there is the Shahab-3 with a range of 2,000 km, which can easily hit all of Israel. In fact, it may affect many areas in the region. So this is the missile, variants of which may actually have been used in Tuesday's attacks.

But Israel has the most advanced ballistic missile defense systems in the world. It is a tiered defense system that was clearly breached last night. Videos show Iranian missiles hitting Tel Aviv. Iran also released videos of ballistic missiles fired from its territory.

What we don't know is how many of these missiles hit their targets and whether some impacts were fragments of missiles that fell after being intercepted by Israel's missile shield. While we're talking about Israeli surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) being fired in defense, we really need to take a look at the distance these interceptor SAMs traveled and the altitude they reached to intercept Iranian ballistic ones to shoot missiles.

READ | “Captain, 22 years old…”: Israel says first soldier killed in combat mission in Lebanon

First, let's talk a little about the Israeli arrow system. Because it is part of a system, the words “missile” and “system” are used interchangeably. Now when talking about SAM systems, you have to talk about the range and the height they can reach.

Israel's Arrow system can intercept incoming ballistic missiles in the exosphere, just outside the atmosphere. The range is 2,000 to 2,400 km. It can fly up to a whopping 100 km altitude; Perhaps it is the most advanced system in its class in the world.

Last night there were other systems that were probably used to intercept Iranian missiles. Let's look at the next one, which is David's Sling System. When intercepted, it can reach a range of 300 km and an altitude of about 15 km.

And finally, we're all talking about the Iron Dome. It is a relatively short rocket system. When you talk about what Israel has, people actually say it's the Iron Dome in action. But the Iron Dome is part of the overall missile defense echelon and the last line of defense. It can fly up to an altitude of 10 km and has a range of about 70 km. It is not ideally suited to defending against ballistic missiles. It is better equipped to take on short-range missiles like those fired by Hamas and Hezbollah.

Apparently there were also system violations. However, many people were not killed and the damage is believed to have occurred mostly at Israeli military bases.

The big question is whether there will be an Israeli response and when it will come.