The United States, along with Britain, France and Jordan, helped Israel contain the bulk of the storm over the weekend and potentially prevent an escalation between the two foes in the region.
At least half of the hundreds of one-way drones, cruise missiles and surface-to-surface missiles, which Israel said carried a total of 60 tons of explosives, were shot down by Israeli warplanes and air shields, according to local media.
Israeli officials said much of the work was done by their Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 high-altitude defense systems, which were jointly developed by the Pentagon and Boeing.
Arrow interceptors cost between $2 million and $3.5 million a piece, according to Israeli industry sources.
Moshe Patel, director of missile defense at Israel’s defense ministry, said the Arrow and lower-altitude interceptor systems were synchronized with corresponding US systems in the region.
“The systems share information, for a common picture of the sky, and the sky was certainly full,” Patel told Channel 12 television.
“Then there is also coordination in battle doctrine. An American officer sits in the control room of the Arrow weapon system and essentially coordinates with the US systems side-by-side.”
There is currently no comment from the US Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East. Yesterday, Sunday, it said that US forces destroyed more than 80 of the drones and at least six of the ballistic missiles that were aimed at Israel.
Israel said 99% of all missiles were shot down in time, limiting the toll to one person injured and damage to a military base. This surprised even Wing Commander Zvika Haimovic, Israel’s former air defense commander.
“It was well-timed and well-coordinated in all the elements – the air, the ground forces – and, yes, to be honest it’s a large percentage and much larger than what we expected if you had asked me three days earlier,” he told Reuters.
“But we have to make sure we’re ready for the next time because there will definitely be a next time,” he said. “We should take it for granted that the Iranians will do their homework next time and try to challenge our systems. This means that we need to be one step ahead and not behind our enemies”.
Daniel Gold, director of weapons development at Israel’s defense ministry, told Channel 12 that work is already underway on more advanced Arrow 4 and 5 models.
The Arrow 3 shoots down incoming ballistic weapons above the atmosphere, using a detachable warhead that falls on the target in space.
The Maariv newspaper reported that the Arrow 3 shot down 110 missiles outside Israeli airspace, at a possible cost of up to $385 million. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on this. Asked on army radio how much the interceptions cost Israel, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he did not know.
Considering the need for thrift due to enemies on many fronts, Israel said in 2022 that it is developing a laser-based missile shield to carry out cheap shootdowns even at two dollars each.
“I believe that the laser will in the coming years be one of our main solutions in dealing with a multitude of threats — rockets, missiles, drones, UAVs and others,” Haimovich said.
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