Hypersonic speeds, advanced techniques and…: How Iran destroyed Israel’s famed air defenses Arrow, David’s Sling and Iron Dome?

Iran has fired more than 400 ballistic missiles towards Israel since June 13 after Israel sparked the ongoing Iran-Israel war when it conducted deadly airstrikes deep inside the Islamic Republic under Operation Rising Lion.

Iran-Israel war: Iranian missiles have repeatedly penetrated Israel’s multi-layered air defense systems– including the Iron Dome– causing widespread devastation across the Jewish state as the Iran-Israel war entered its eighth day on Friday. But how did Iran manage to breach the famed Israeli air defenses, which includes some of the world’s most advanced and sophisticated anti-missile systems like Arrow 1, 2 and 3, the David’s Sling, and of course the Iron Dome short-range interceptor?

According to defense experts, Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used a combination of methods to enable Iranian missiles to penetrate Israeli air defense systems.

Saturation attacks to overwhelm Israeli air defenses

When Iran launches a barrage of missiles at Israel, they are accompanied by swarms of low-cost attack drones like Shahed 136, which air primarily aimed to saturate or overwhelm the air defense as it has to engage numerous targets at once. Additionally, Iran does not fire all its aerial projectiles in one go, instead they are launched in waves, making the interception even more difficult for Israeli air defenses.

This strategy allows a few advanced missiles to breach the defenses and strike their targets.

Israel uses the Iron Dome for short-range interception, David’s Sling for medium-range ballistic and cruise missiles, and the Arrow 2 and 3 to intercept more advanced aerial threats such as long-range hypersonic ballistic missiles. However, the country is running out of interceptors due to the sheer volume of projectiles launched by Iran, and may soon have to choose which threat to intercept and which to let through, according to reports.

Variety of Iran’s aerial projectiles

Iranian attacks usually consist a mix of drone swarms flying slower and at lower altitudes, and the much faster ballistic missiles that have a higher flying trajectory, making it difficult for air defense systems to intercept a multitude of targets that have varying flight characteristics and attack trajectories.

Additionally, some of Iran’s missiles, such as the Haj Qassem and the Sejjil, are capable of reaching hypersonic speeds of above Mach 5, and follow a high-flight trajectory before rapid reentry into the atmosphere, leaving little for Israeli air defenses to engage and intercept the threat.

Iran also launched its Fattah-1 hypersonic missile at Israel which reportedly travels at Mach 15 speeds, making it almost impossible for any air defense system to intercept.

Maneuvering techniques and spoofing

According to reports, Iran has also employed advanced spoofing methods and guidance techniques to guide their missiles, which allegedly Israeli air defenses, causing them to target each other’s interceptor missiles instead of the incoming threat. While the IRGC has not disclosed the details of this purported ‘spoofing’ technique, experts believe that the Iranians have likely found a way to exploit the target acquisition and engagement logic of Israel’s interceptors.

Additionally, reports suggest that some advanced Iranian missiles employ employ maneuverable re-entry vehicles (MaRV) or release decoys, which makes tracking their trajectories almost impossible, and further complicates interception.

Interceptions cost Israel $285 million per night

As per defense experts, Israel is forced to spend around $285 million (approximately 1 billion shekels) to stop Iranian missile and drone attacks each night, with a single Arrow 3 interceptor missile costing a whopping $3 million.

Israel will likely run out of interceptor missiles with less than two weeks time and will not be able to stop Iranian aerial threats if immediate military resupplies are not received from the United States (US), they say.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Israel is running out of interceptors to intercept short-range missiles, and at the current rate, its ability to intercept and neutralize short-range ballistic missiles (SRMs) could last for around 10-12 days at best.

Citing US officials, the report said that Israel may soon have to choose which missile to intercept and which one to let through if Iran continues its ballistic missile attack at the current pace. As per the report, Iran has fired more than 400 ballistic missiles towards Israel since June 13 after Israel sparked the ongoing Iran-Israel war when it conducted deadly airstrikes deep inside the Islamic Republic under Operation Rising Lion.