Iran’s state-run Press TV on Monday cited an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) official as saying that a “hypersonic missile” was launched towards Israel on Saturday night, and that the fast-moving weapon was used by Israel, the United States, and claimed to have been able to avoid all countries. Their allies attack Israeli targets.
Press TV claimed that Iran is “one of the few countries that possesses the technology to produce hypersonic missiles that can fly at incredible speeds and strike targets with great precision.” Iran appears to have fired these advanced missiles at actual targets on Saturday night.
The report cited Iranian military chief of staff Maj. Gen. Mohammad Baqeri’s assertion on Sunday that Iran “attacked a large intelligence base in the occupied territories and Israel’s Nevatim Air Base, from which F-35 fighter jets were It took off targeting Iranian diplomatic facilities.” Damascus. ”
Baqeri said the Iranian airstrike “achieved its objective” because Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome defense system “could not adequately counter Iranian missiles and drones.”
Actual evidence from witnesses and military statements from across the Middle East directly contradicts these claims. Iran’s attack is almost completely intercepted by the army and air forces of Israel, the United States, and allied nations, including Jordan and perhaps other Middle Eastern military powers.
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system is launched to intercept a missile fired from Iran in central Israel, Sunday, April 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Tomer Neuberg)
“Iran launched attacks against Israel, launching more than 300 threats of various types. Iranian threats were countered by the Israeli Defense Forces’ air and technological superiority, along with a powerful combat coalition.” Said Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Major General Daniel Hagari said on Sunday.
“Ninety-nine percent of threats launched against Israeli territory have been thwarted, which is a very important strategic achievement. Of the approximately 170 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) launched by Iran that have entered Israeli territory What I did was zero.”
“Of the more than 30 cruise missiles launched by Iran, not a single one entered Israeli territory. Of the more than 120 ballistic missiles, only a few entered Israeli territory, and the rest were intercepted. “It was done,” he said.
Hagari added that the cruise missile that entered Israeli airspace landed near Nevatim Air Base, but caused only “minor damage to infrastructure.”
“Iran wanted to neutralize the base and undermine our aviation capabilities, but they failed. IAF aircraft will continue to take off and land from the base and depart for offensive and defensive missions,” he said.
Iran said the attack was in retaliation for Israel’s alleged bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing several senior officials of the Revolutionary Guards, a designated terrorist organization. Israel has not officially claimed responsibility for the bombing, much less said what type of jet was used or where it came from.
In Israel, stock F-35 Lightning 5th generation fighter, design It was developed by Lockheed Martin Corporation in cooperation with many US allies. Nevatim is home to F-35s and appears to be Iran’s primary military target.
Iran’s strategy appears to be to overwhelm Israel’s defenses with swarms of relatively slow drones and break through the chaos with fast-moving ballistic missiles that take only about 10 minutes to reach their targets after launch. was.
According to IDF officials, Iran’s strategy was as follows: thwarted By Arrow-3 anti-missile systemis a project jointly developed with the United States and was used in combat for the first time in November. Arrow interceptor missiles have proven highly effective against ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who obtain their weapons from Iran.
Israel is developing a multi-layered interception system under which Iron Dome will eliminate short-range missiles, such as drones and highly inaccurate terror rockets favored by Hamas and other Iranian proxies, while It also uses the American-made Patriot anti-missile system, the Arrow. , fighter jets like the F-35 intercept large missiles at longer ranges and higher altitudes. As apparently happened Saturday night, the Arrow could attack an incoming ballistic missile while still in space.
The IDF filled the gap between Iron Dome and Arrow with David Sling. saw the action For the first time in May 2023, in the previous clash between Israeli and Palestinian terrorists. Developed in conjunction with Raytheon and introduced in 2017, David’s Sling is effective at intercepting targets from 45 to 185 miles away.
David’s Sling uses missiles known as. stunnerThe system distinguishes itself from many other interceptor systems by taking a “hit-to-kill” approach, guided by highly sensitive radar and advanced electronics to kill incoming missiles. Instead of exploding nearby and causing damage with shrapnel, it directly impacts incoming missiles.
This reduces the amount of debris falling from the sky in the event of a successful interception and reduces the chance of a damaged ballistic missile falling to the ground with its warhead intact.
Iran has a huge fleet of missiles and drones, but it is questionable whether any of them qualify as true hypersonic missiles.Days before the attack, Iranian state media exhibited Nine missiles could reach Israel from Iranian launch sites. Only one of his aircraft, Fattah 2, is touted as a hypersonic aircraft and is still under development.
Fattah-2 would likely consist of a solid-fuel booster rocket that would be launched into space and then deploy a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) with a liquid-fueled engine to deliver the warhead to its target.
Iran is ceremonial announced The exhibition held in November 2023 also included Futter 2, a new generation of ostensibly nearly uncontrollable drones. There is good reason to doubt Iran’s claims of world-class hypersonic missile technology, given how poorly Iran’s drones appeared to go wrong Saturday night.
According to reports, North Korea worked closely It claims to be cooperating with Iran on missile development and test-fired a similar weapon in April. The North Korean rocket traveled only about 375 miles before crashing into the ocean between South Korea and Japan. The independent analyst saw no evidence North Korea still has deployable medium-sized, or long-range, hypersonic missiles.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman (Menachem・Kahana/Pool via AP)
true hypersonic weapons It can fly sustainably at more than five times the speed of sound, or about 4,000 miles per hour, making it difficult to intercept or even monitor. China may be the current world leader in hypersonic technology, but Russia has a history of making far-fetched claims about the supernatural capabilities of its Zircon hypersonic cruise missile.
zircon can probably arrival It moves so fast, eight times the speed of sound, that it creates a plasma cloud that absorbs radar and radio waves. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has claimed that Zircon is undetectable and unstoppable, even with the latest defense technology from the United States and Israel. Putin also claimed that Zircon “has no analogues in any country in the world.”
ukraine Said In early April, Russia announced that since early 2024 it had struck the country five times with sea-launched Zircon missiles, as well as 11 slower Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. Zircon and Kinzhal did not appear to be game-changing superweapons, but Russia launched so many weapons against Ukraine that it is difficult for outside observers to judge the performance of a small number of missiles. Have difficulty.
Ukraine reportedly managed to succeed. shoot down Equipped with six or more U.S.-supplied Patriot missile batteries, Kinzhal has burst the hypersonic hype bubble in the eyes of some defense analysts.The U.S. military doesn’t seem too impressed by this. performance A unique hypersonic glide test vehicle. Rather than falling behind in the superpower arms race, the United States appears to have shifted its focus to improving its defense systems to the point where they can reliably intercept hypersonic missiles.
What Iran fired at Israel on Saturday showed nothing like the hypersonic weapons capabilities that Russia has boasted. In fact, U.S. officials Said On Monday, it was announced that about half of the missiles launched by Iran either malfunctioned in flight or failed to pass the launch pad.
According to these US sources, a total of five Iranian ballistic missiles reached Israeli territory, four of which targeted Navatim Air Base. The missiles struck two empty aircraft hangars and a runway. A fifth missile landed on a radar site in northern Israel but missed.
