What is Israel's multilayered defense against Iranian missiles?
Israel has multilayered air defenses against attacks by Iran, which has fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and suicide drones at Israel since Friday, as the Middle East rivals trade heavy blows.
Israel has been honing its air defenses since coming under Iraqi Scud salvos in the 1991 Gulf War, in addition to receiving support from the U.S., which has provided its ally with advanced anti-missile equipment.
An Israeli military official said Saturday that the defensive umbrella had an "80 or 90% success rate," but emphasised that no system is 100% perfect, meaning that some Iranian missiles were breaking through the shield.
Here are details of Israel's missile defenses:
Arrow
The long-range Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 interceptors, developed by Israel with an Iranian missile threat in mind, are designed to engage incoming targets both in and outside the atmosphere respectively. They operate at an altitude that allows for safe dispersal of any nonconventional warheads.
State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries is the project's main contractor while Boeing is involved in producing the interceptors.
David's Sling
The midrange David's Sling system is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles fired from 100 kilometers to 200 kilometers away.
Developed and manufactured jointly by Israel's state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and RTX, a U.S. company previously known as Raytheon, David's Sling is also designed to intercept aircraft, drones and cruise missiles.
Iron Dome
The short-range Iron Dome air defense system was built to intercept the kind of rockets fired by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza.
Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with U.S. backing, it became operational in 2011. Each truck-towed unit fires radar-guided missiles to blow up short-range threats such as rockets, mortars and drones in midair.
A naval version of the Iron Dome, to protect ships and sea-based assets, was deployed in 2017.
The system determines whether a rocket is on course to hit a populated area. If not, the rocket is ignored and allowed to land harmlessly.
Iron Dome was originally billed as providing city coverage against rockets with ranges of between 4 km and 70 km, but experts say this has since been expanded.
U.S. THAAD system
The U.S. military said last October that it had sent the advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to Israel.
THAAD is a critical part of the U.S. military's air defenses and is designed to intercept and destroy short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats in their terminal phase of flight.
The U.S. military helped to shoot down Iranian missiles fired at Israel on Friday, using ground-based systems, one U.S. official said. A U.S. Navy destroyer in the Eastern Mediterranean also helped to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles, Israeli media has reported.
Air-to-air defense
Israeli combat helicopters and fighter jets have fired air-to-air missiles to destroy drones that were heading to Israel, military officials have said.
Jordan's air force also intercepted missiles and drones entering its airspace Friday, its state news agency said.
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Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Japan Times
What is Israel's multilayered defense against Iranian missiles?
Israel has multilayered air defenses against attacks by Iran, which has fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and suicide drones at Israel since Friday, as the Middle East rivals trade heavy blows. Israel has been honing its air defenses since coming under Iraqi Scud salvos in the 1991 Gulf War, in addition to receiving support from the U.S., which has provided its ally with advanced anti-missile equipment. An Israeli military official said Saturday that the defensive umbrella had an "80 or 90% success rate," but emphasised that no system is 100% perfect, meaning that some Iranian missiles were breaking through the shield. Here are details of Israel's missile defenses: Arrow The long-range Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 interceptors, developed by Israel with an Iranian missile threat in mind, are designed to engage incoming targets both in and outside the atmosphere respectively. They operate at an altitude that allows for safe dispersal of any nonconventional warheads. State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries is the project's main contractor while Boeing is involved in producing the interceptors. David's Sling The midrange David's Sling system is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles fired from 100 kilometers to 200 kilometers away. Developed and manufactured jointly by Israel's state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and RTX, a U.S. company previously known as Raytheon, David's Sling is also designed to intercept aircraft, drones and cruise missiles. Iron Dome The short-range Iron Dome air defense system was built to intercept the kind of rockets fired by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza. Developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with U.S. backing, it became operational in 2011. Each truck-towed unit fires radar-guided missiles to blow up short-range threats such as rockets, mortars and drones in midair. A naval version of the Iron Dome, to protect ships and sea-based assets, was deployed in 2017. The system determines whether a rocket is on course to hit a populated area. If not, the rocket is ignored and allowed to land harmlessly. Iron Dome was originally billed as providing city coverage against rockets with ranges of between 4 km and 70 km, but experts say this has since been expanded. U.S. THAAD system The U.S. military said last October that it had sent the advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to Israel. THAAD is a critical part of the U.S. military's air defenses and is designed to intercept and destroy short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats in their terminal phase of flight. The U.S. military helped to shoot down Iranian missiles fired at Israel on Friday, using ground-based systems, one U.S. official said. A U.S. Navy destroyer in the Eastern Mediterranean also helped to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles, Israeli media has reported. Air-to-air defense Israeli combat helicopters and fighter jets have fired air-to-air missiles to destroy drones that were heading to Israel, military officials have said. Jordan's air force also intercepted missiles and drones entering its airspace Friday, its state news agency said.
Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Japan Times
Iran lauds 'new method' as missiles hit Israel's Tel Aviv and Haifa
Iranian missiles struck Israel's Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa on Monday, destroying homes and fueling concerns among world leaders at this week's Group of Seven meeting that the battle between the two old enemies could lead to a broader regional conflict. Israel's national emergency service said three people were killed in the country's center, while dozens more were wounded in the overnight strikes, part of a wave of attacks by Tehran in retaliation for Israel's preemptive strikes targeting Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs that began Friday. Search and location operations were underway in Haifa, where around 30 people were wounded, emergency authorities said, as dozens of first responders rushed to the strike zones. Fires were seen burning at a power plant near the port, media reported. Video footage showed several missiles over Tel Aviv and explosions could be heard there and over Jerusalem. Several residential buildings in a densely populated neighborhood of Tel Aviv were destroyed in a strike that blew out the windows of hotels and other nearby homes just a few hundred meters from a U.S. Embassy premises in the city. Guydo Tetelbaun was in his apartment in Tel Aviv when the alerts came in shortly after 4 a.m. "As usual, we went into the (shelter) that's right across the street there. And within minutes, the door of the (shelter) blew in," the 31-year-old chef said. "A couple of people came in bloody, all cut up. And then when we came to the apartment, after it quietened down, we saw there wasn't much of it. ... Walls are caved in, no more glass," he added. "It's terrifying because it's so unknown. This could be the beginning of a long time like this, or it could get worse, or hopefully better, but it's the unknown that's the scariest.' The predawn missiles struck near Shuk HaCarmel, a popular market in Tel Aviv that typically draws large crowds of residents and tourists buying fresh fruits and vegetables, and to popular bars and restaurants. A residential street in nearby Petach Tikva and a school in ultra-Orthodox Jewish city Bnei Brak were also hit. Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel's multilayered defense systems to target each other. "The initiatives and capabilities used in this operation, despite the comprehensive support of the United States and Western powers and the possession of the most up-to-date and newest defense technology, led to the successful and maximum hitting of the missiles on the targets in the occupied territories," it said. Missiles launched from Iran are intercepted over Tel Aviv on Monday. | REUTERS The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. Israeli officials have repeatedly said the defense system is not 100% and warned of tough days ahead. At least 13 people in Israel, including children, were killed in earlier strikes, according to authorities there. The Iranian death toll in four days of Israeli strikes, carried out with the declared aim of wiping out Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, had reached at least 224, with 90% of the casualties reported to be civilians, an Iranian health ministry spokesperson said, adding that more than 1,200 had been wounded. G7 leaders began gathering in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday, with the Israel-Iran conflict expected to be a top priority. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his goals for the summit include for Iran to not develop or possess nuclear weapons, ensuring Israel's right to defend itself, avoiding escalation of the conflict and creating room for diplomacy. "This issue will be very high on the agenda of the G7 summit," Merz told reporters. Displaced Palestinians stand outside tents as they watch trails of Iranian missiles targeting Israel, from Rafah's Mawasi area in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday. | AFP-JIJI Before leaving for the summit on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump was asked what he was doing to de-escalate the situation. "I hope there's going to be a deal. I think it's time for a deal," he told reporters. "Sometimes they have to fight it out." Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while it is under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications said Sunday. Explosions shook Tel Aviv on Sunday during Iran's first daylight missile attack since Israel's strike on Friday. Shortly after nightfall, Iranian missiles hit a residential street in Haifa, a mixed Jewish-Arab city, and in Israel's south. In Bat Yam, a city near Tel Aviv, residents braced on Sunday evening for another sleepless night after an overnight strike on an apartment tower. "It's very dreadful. It's not fun. People are losing their lives and their homes," said Shem, 29. Images from Tehran showed the night sky lit up by a huge blaze at a fuel depot after Israel began strikes against Iran's oil and gas sector — raising the stakes for the global economy and the functioning of the Iranian state. A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while gathering with others during a rally in solidarity with the government against Israel's attacks on Iran at Revolution Square in Tehran on Saturday. | AFP-JIJI In Washington, two U.S. officials said that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. When asked about the report, Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday: "There's so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I'm not going to get into that." "We do what we need to do," he told Fox's "Special Report With Bret Baier." Israel began the assault with a surprise attack on Friday that wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command and damaged its nuclear sites, and says the campaign will escalate in coming days. The intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy were killed in attacks on Tehran on Sunday, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said. Iran has vowed to "open the gates of hell" in retaliation. Smoke billows following an explosion in central Tehran on Sunday. Iranian media said an Israeli strike hit police headquarters in the city center on Sunday as the two foes traded fire. | AFP-JIJI Trump has lauded Israel's offensive while denying Iranian allegations that the U.S. has taken part and warning Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include U.S. targets. Two U.S. officials said on Friday the U.S. military had helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed toward Israel. The U.S. president has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but which Western countries and the IAEA nuclear watchdog say could be used to make an atomic bomb. The latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.S., due on Sunday, was scrapped after Tehran said it would not negotiate while under Israeli attack.
Japan Times
11 hours ago
- Japan Times
Trump returns to G7 he once loathed as Iran crisis intensifies
President Donald Trump arrives in Canada as the center of attention for a Group of Seven summit of world leaders whose main purpose will be to mollify him — and one where spiraling conflict in the Middle East offers another test of its unity. Trump was traveling Sunday night to Kananaskis, Alberta, for the first big international summit of his second term. Wary of opening new rifts with the U.S. president, other G7 leaders won't even try for a statement of unity on matters such as Ukraine or climate change. It's not even clear that they will be able to demonstrate a sense of common purpose over the conflict between Israel and Iran that began with Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear sites late last week. Those strikes continued over the weekend, fanning fears of a regional war. Trump has called for a ceasefire but is helping Israel defend itself, while others such as French President Emmanuel Macron have urged the sides to avoid further escalation. Instead of speaking to allies about the fighting, Trump discussed the conflict in a Saturday call with the G7's main adversary, Russian President Vladimir Putin, a central antagonist in a war with Ukraine that's also frustrated Trump. Macron, speaking to reporters on Sunday, dismissed the notion of Putin mediating the Middle East conflict, saying the Russian leader, given his flouting of international norms, could not "be in any way a mediator.' More than a dozen leaders from around the world were set to join Trump at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge looking to strike trade deals to stave off a fresh round of U.S. tariffs as early as next month. The meeting's remote location means it will be inaccessible to protesters and give leaders freedom to meet Trump on neutral turf instead of under the glare of the cameras in the Oval Office where he's in control and playing to his domestic audience. Trade deals Leaders from Brazil, South Africa, India, and South Korea will be there seeking to protect their own interests, as will Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, looking to shore up support for his nation's fight against Russia despite Trump's ambivalence. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum is likely to get her first one-on-one in-person meeting with Trump, while also seeking a fresh U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal along with the event's host, Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Canadian leader, meanwhile, will seek to balance standing up to Trump's calls to make Canada the 51st state while avoiding the flareups that turned past summits into displays of rancor and disunity. "The best case scenario in my mind, coming out of this, is that there's no real blowups,' said Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council think tank. Trump has long considered such summits tedious, and used them to pick fights with fellow leaders. One of his first, the 2017 Group of 20 in Hamburg, was marked by widespread protests, with posters plastered around the city calling Trump a clown. An enduring image of his first G7, in Italy, was six leaders walking together while Trump traveled separately in a golf cart. A year later at a G7 meeting also in Canada, Trump made his most indelible mark on the summit circuit. A viral photo showed him sitting defiant, with arms crossed, staring up at then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while other leaders stood around her. He then upended the event by pulling out of the joint communique that had been forged in the meeting and firing an angry tweet at then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the Canadian leader's criticisms of Trump's tariff policies. That photo, along with Trump's eruption, casts a "long shadow' over this year's summit, said Caitlin Welsh, who served as a U.S. summit official during Trump's first term and is now a program director with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It showed "that consensus outcomes could not be taken for granted in the G7 or G20 or other bodies,' Welsh said. Even after that, leaders were never quite sure what to make of Trump. In 2019, a hot mic caught leaders — including Trudeau — at another summit griping about Trump running late. At President Joe Biden's first G7 in 2021, he declared "America is back,' to which Macron shot back — "For how long?' Now Trump returns, both to the summit sanctum and to Canada, after a bruising tariff war and his refusal to back down from the 51st state threat. That stoked widespread anger in the country and helped fuel Carney's spring election victory. Trump himself has claimed credit. Playing nice But while earlier summits saw Trump spar with counterparts, this batch of leaders have tended to try to play nice with Trump, soothing his ego and avoiding confrontations. And several, such as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Macron and Carney have all had relatively successful — or at least unremarkable — meetings with Trump since his return to office. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.K. leader Kier Starmer meet on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday. | REUTERS And there are widespread signs the bloc wants to maintain that approach. Macron is the sole holdover from Trump's first term. While he'll look to maintain pleasant relations with Trump, he visited Greenland on the way to Canada, a nod of support after Trump mused about annexing the Danish territory. Leaders are not preparing a joint communique this time around given that differences are too large on everything from climate change to artificial intelligence to women's empowerment. Instead they are set to issue statements on half a dozen subjects, though Ukraine isn't among them. The U.S. will also push to discuss trade, expanding exports of American energy and AI development, a White House official said Friday in a briefing that made no direct mention of Iran. The leaders are also expected to discuss breaking their dependency on China for critical minerals, according to a German official. Trump has set so-called reciprocal tariffs at 10% for about five dozen countries and the EU, but has made a July 9 deadline to reach deals or see the tariffs rise again. That threat hangs over nearly every leader at the summit. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has touted the progress made so far, as his trade negotiator makes near-weekly visits to the U.S. to negotiate terms, but has also expressed caution about rushing into an agreement. Japan is seeking removal of the levies — and is a test-case of Trump's willingness to negotiate auto tariffs in particular. "What's important is to achieve an agreement that's beneficial to both Japan and the U.S.,' Ishiba said last week. "We won't compromise Japan's interests by prioritizing a quick deal.'
