Iran's arsenal of missiles and Israel's defence system
Since Israel's surprise attack against Iranian nuclear facilities and ballistic missile sites, Iran has retaliated with hundreds of missiles and drones launched against major cities across Israel.
Dozens of people in Israel have been killed so far in the Iranian missile attacks.
18 m
0 m
2,000km
Sejil |2,000 km
1,700km
1,000km
Emad |1,700 km
Ghadr |2,000 km
ISRAEL
IRAN
Shahab-3 | 1,300 km
Khorramshar | 2,000 km
Iran's arsenal is the largest stockpile of ballistic missiles in the Middle East and includes multiple long-range missiles that can reach Israel.
Hoveyzeh | 1,350 km
Iran's ballistic and cruise missiles.
Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies
As part of its campaign, Israel has also conducted extensive aerial bombardments against Iranian missile launchers, silos and support units.
According to analysis from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and AEI Critical Threats Project, Israel has 'likely destroyed around a third of the Iranian missile launchers.' Iran's early waves of retaliatory strikes have also depleted its stock of missiles that can reach Israel. ISW estimates it has used up at least a third and as much as half of its long-range missiles.
Iran missile facilities
Israel strikes (June 12-16)
Amand
TURKEY
Tabriz
Tehran
SIRIA
IRAQ
ISRAEL
950 km
IRAN
SAUDI ARABIA
Iran's ability to retaliate with weapons fired by its regional proxies has also been sharply degraded over the past year, with the downfall of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the decimation of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Still, some Iranian missiles are penetrating Israel's extensive missile defence systems and striking Israeli cities.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel's multi-layered defence systems to target each other and allowed Tehran to successfully hit many targets, without providing further details.
The Israeli Defence Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes.
Israel has been honing its air defences since coming under Iraqi Scud salvoes 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 on 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.
The short-range Iron Dome air defence 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 mid-air.
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 (2.5-43 miles), but experts say this has since been expanded.
Iranian
incoming
rockets
Iron Dome is a mobile system designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells that endanger populated areas in Israel.
Israeli
interceptor
missile
Israeli city
*The drawings are
not to scale.
Missile
launcher
Each battery – a combination of missile launcher, control station and radar – can defend about 150 square kilometres (58 square miles), about the size of a medium-sized city.
Detection and
tracking radar
A graphic shows a city being protected from attack by Iron Dome. Iron Dome is a mobile system designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells that endanger populated areas in Israel. Each battery – a combination of missile launcher, control station and radar – can defend about 150 square kilometres (58 square miles), about the size of a medium-sized city.
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