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Israel faces a looming shortage of interceptors as it strengthens its air defenses to protect it from attacks by Iran and its proxies, according to industry executives, former military officials and analysts.
The United States on Sunday announced the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile squadron to help fill gaps in Israel’s protective shield, ahead of an Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran that risks further regional escalation. It has become.
“Israel’s military supply problem is serious,” said Dana Stroll, a former senior U.S. defense official for the Middle East.
“If Iran responds to an Israeli attack, [with a massive air strike campaign]And if Hezbollah joins, Israel’s air defenses will be strained,” she said, adding that U.S. stockpiles are not limitless. “The United States cannot continue to supply Ukraine and Israel at the same pace. We are reaching a tipping point.”
Boaz Levi, CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries, a state-owned company that manufactures Arrow interceptors used to shoot down ballistic missiles, said he was working three shifts to keep production lines running. He said that
“Some of our lines operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our goal is to meet all our obligations,” Levy said, adding that the time it takes to build an interceptor missile is “in the numbers. It’s not a matter of the day,” he added. Israel did not disclose the size of its stockpile, but added: “It is a known fact that we need to replenish our stockpile.”
Israel’s three-tiered air defenses have so far shot down countless drones and missiles launched at Israel by Iran and its proxies from across the region.
The country’s Iron Dome system shot down short-range rockets and drones fired by Hamas from Gaza, the David Thring intercepted large rockets fired from Lebanon, and the Arrow system shot down ballistic missiles from Iran. was prevented. Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Iraqi militias have also fired missiles, rockets and drones at Israel.
In April, the Israeli military, with support from the United States and other allies, claimed it had achieved a 99 percent intercept rate against Iranian salvoes of 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles.
But Israel was less successful in preventing a second barrage of more than 180 ballistic missiles fired by Iran on October 1. Nearly 30 missiles struck Israel’s Nevatim Air Base, while one missile exploded 700 meters from Iran’s headquarters, according to open-source intelligence analysts. Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency.
The US-supplied THAAD battery is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles and will be installed alongside Israel’s Arrow system. It strengthens air defenses across Israel, as President Benjamin Netanyahu’s government plans retaliatory strikes for an Iranian missile barrage in October, and as Tehran attempts to kill leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups. He said it was revenge.
Lebanon-based Hezbollah has shown it can still strike at least 60 kilometers into Israel, despite weeks of Israeli attacks on its commanders and weapons depots.
On Sunday, a Hezbollah attack drone killed four Israeli soldiers at a military base in the center of the country.
“We have not yet seen Hezbollah’s full capabilities. It is firing only about a tenth of its estimated pre-war firing capacity, firing hundreds of rockets per day instead of 2,000. “Asaf Orion, a former Israeli brigadier general and director of strategy for the Israel Defense Forces, said.
“Part of that gap is Hezbollah’s choice not to go all out, and part of it is due to degradation by the IDF. . . . But Hezbollah has enough remaining forces to mount a strong operation. Yes,” Orion added. “Haifa and northern Israel continue to be attacked almost daily by rockets and drones.”
Analysts said defense planners and Israel’s AI-powered air defense forces will have to choose which areas to protect over others.
According to official Israeli statistics, Gaza and Lebanon alone have fired more than 20,000 rockets and missiles into Israel in the past year.
“During the October 1st attack, there was a sense that the IDF had secured some Arrow interceptors in preparation for Iran’s next Tel Aviv salvo,” said Ehud Eilam, a former researcher at the Israeli Ministry of Defense. he said. “It is only a matter of time before Israel begins to run out of interceptor weapons and must prioritize how it deploys them.”
Illustration: Ian Bott, Cartography: Jana Tauschinski
