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Bloomberg

As Iran fires masses of ballistic missiles, Israel’s vaunted air defences are being tested like never before.
Iran launched around 200 such missiles at Israel on Friday night - in retaliation for a wave of Israeli strikes that day - and 70 or so on Saturday evening, according to the Israel Defence Forces. More came on Sunday and Monday.
In total, Tehran has sent 370 ballistic missiles toward Israel, with around 30 hitting targets in the country, the Israeli government said. They have killed 24 people and injured almost 600. The total does not include missiles fired at Israel on Tuesday, with attacks ongoing.
Towns such as Rishon LeZion and Bat Yam near Tel Aviv have suffered extensive damage to homes. Haifa, a port city in the north, has been heavily targeted, as has central Tel Aviv.




Iran has also launched hundreds of drones, which have been more easily intercepted.
“We have some good defence systems, but they’re not hermetically sealing the skies,” Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, told ABC on Sunday. “About 10 per cent to 15 per cent of these ballistic missiles get through.”
That is in line with the Israeli military’s expected “leakage rate”. The US, while not joining Israel in striking Iran, is helping its ally intercept Tehran’s missiles, with each wave costing millions of dollars to defend against.
The attacks by Iran since Friday have been far deadlier and more damaging than when the Islamic Republic fired missiles and drones at Israel in April and October last year.
Back then, Iran concentrated mostly on military and intelligence targets. This time, its firing larger numbers of projectiles and more are heading towards civilian areas.
Israel has faced barrages of missiles and drones before from Iran-backed groups such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. But neither possesses the sophisticated ballistic projectiles fired by Iran, which travel at much faster speeds, carry heavier explosives, can manoeuvre mid-air and spend much of their flying time outside the Earth’s atmosphere, making them difficult to intercept.




“When you have a navigation system, it means that the Israeli air-defence systems cannot predict exactly what will be the route of the missile,” Giora Eiland, a retired major general and former head of Israel’s National Security Council, told reporters on Monday. “That’s why, relatively, we miss more than we really want.”
The Houthis in Yemen have fired ballistic missiles at Israel, but usually no more than one at a time.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Israelis to expect further attacks in the coming days from Iran and urged them to rush to bomb shelters when air-raid sirens sound or they receive phone alerts.
Stopping Iran from firing missiles is a top priority for the IDF. It has tried to target launch sites since Friday and officials have said that roughly a third - or 120 - of them have been taken out.
Netanyahu says Israel is in “an existential campaign” that aims to set back Iran’s nuclear programme by years, if not forever. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Israel will “pay a very heavy price” for its strikes, which have killed 224 people, including top generals and atomic scientists, according to the Iranian government.
Iran still has thousands of missiles left that can reach Israel, National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told Israel’s Army Radio on Monday.

That’s more than the figure of 2,000 suggested by comments from many Israeli officials in recent weeks. Yet even if the lower number is accurate, Iran can still launch salvoes for several days, if not weeks.
One major advantage for Israel is that it has blunted the firepower of Hezbollah and Hamas in its wars with them since October 2023.
Around 2011, former prime minister Ehud Barak said 500 people could be killed in Israel by retaliatory attacks if his government hit Iranian nuclear sites. But he included rockets from Hezbollah and Hamas in his assessment.
Even a 90 per cent rate of interception does not mean life continues as normal for Israelis. Schools have closed at least through this week, and more than 100,000 people are stranded abroad after the country’s airspace was closed on Friday.
There is also the steep expense of the interceptions. Each of Israel’s Arrow interceptor missiles, the ones typically needed to shoot down long-range projectiles, cost around US$2 million to US$3 million. Often, more than one is launched toward a ballistic missile to increase the chances of it being hit.
In April last year, Bloomberg reported that it probably cost Israel - as well as the American, British, French and Jordanian air forces - around US$1.1 billion to foil Iran’s attack. That was for a few hours’ work.
This conflict has already lasted much longer. And there’s little sign of a let-up yet.


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Middle East

Israel’s air shield tested like never before as Iranian missiles rain down

The Israeli Iron Dome air defence system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv on Sunday. Photo: AP

Missile wreckage in Safed, northern Israel. Photo: JINI via Xinhua

Israel and Iran unleash more strikes, deepening Middle East crisis

Israeli security forces inspect a destroyed building that was hit by a missile fired from Iran, near Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo: AP

Ballistic missiles above Jerusalem on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Responders work amid building rubble in the Israeli city of Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, following a strike by an Iranian missile. Photo: AFP

Smoke and flames following an Israeli attack on Shahran oil depot in Tehran, Iran. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters

People take shelter in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo: AP

The Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in central Iran on January 24 (left) and on June 14 (right) after it was hit by Israeli strikes. Photo: Maxar Technologies via AFP

Trump leaves G7 summit early after urging ‘everyone’ to flee Tehran

Smoke rises from the building of Iran’s state-run television after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on Monday. Photo: AP

US President Donald Trump boarding Air Force One on Monday. Photo: AFP

Netanyahu suggests killing Iran’s supreme leader would ‘end conflict’

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. File photo: AFP

Iran hits Tel Aviv after Israeli strikes on Tehran, as hostilities continue to inflict deadly toll

Destroyed buildings in Tel Aviv, Israel after another Iranian missile attack. Photo: Reuters

An explosion from an Iranian missile attack on Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday. Photo: AP

Missiles launched from Iran being intercepted, as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo: Reuters

Destroyed buildings in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo: Reuters

An Iranian woman mourns on Monday over the flag-draped shrouded body of a loved one who was killed in Israeli strikes in the city of Tabriz. Photo: AP

A man carries a wounded girl in downtown Tehran on Sunday. Photo: AP

News

World

Iran’s sustained volley of ballistic missiles reveals a new level of threat, with some bypassing Israel’s advanced interception systems


Iran’s sustained volley of ballistic missiles reveals a new level of threat, with some bypassing Israel’s advanced interception systems.


Israel’s air shield tested like never before as Iranian missiles rain down

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Iran’s sustained volley of ballistic missiles reveals a new level of threat, with some bypassing Israel’s advanced interception systems

Iran’s sustained volley of ballistic missiles reveals a new level of threat, with some bypassing Israel’s advanced interception systems