Israel admits its air defense radars failed to track Iranian missiles a day after blaming faulty sirens
Iranian missile barrage
which hit Haifa, the country's third-largest city. Taking a complete U-turn from its earlier claim of sirens in Haifa developing an error and not getting activated as the Iranian missiles approached Haifa, the
Israel Defense Command
on Monday (June 23) admitted that its radar missed to identify the projectile.
After a through investigation following an uproar over the missile strike which took place without any warning, the IDF issued a statement. It acknowledged that its radar system suffered a failure and there was no human error involved as the missile landed unannounced.
"Last night (Sunday), a joint Home Front Command and IAF examination concluded after examining the impact of a missile in Haifa without an alert during an Iranian missile barrage on Sunday morning. The findings indicate that there was a localized failure in the detection process, and as a result, a missile warhead fell in the Haifa area without an alert. Lessons have been learned from the examination and will be implemented immediately. The IDF continuously learns lessons and, once again, reminds the public that the defense is not hermetic. We emphasize that there was no issue with the Home Front Command's alert system," the IDF stated in a statement on Monday.
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The missile flew in unchallenged to punch through the multi-layered Israeli air defense system. As the radars failed to locate and track the missile, the interceptor missiles, too, did not take off to engage the Iranian threat.
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The IDF had on Sunday soon after the missile hit blamed its own interceptor missile of causing the damage. The forces has then claimed that Haifa faced no missile threat from Iran as its sirens are triggered by incoming projectiles and not by interceptors.
Comprising of the Iron Done,
David's Sling
, Arrows 2 and 3, as well as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), the IDF air defense system was successful in shooting down over 90 per cent of Iranian missiles in the first few days of the war following its airstrikes on June 13.
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But as days progressed the interception rate has come down. A senior Israeli intelligence official told American NBC News that with Iranian missile barrage continuing, the IDF system was able to to stop only about 65% of projectiles now.
A report by The Washington Post on June 17 claimed that Israel was running low on interceptors and may run out of such missiles in the next 10-12 days.
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