🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡️NYT - Will Israel’s Interceptors Outlast Iran’s Missiles?

Since Iran started retaliating against Israel’s fire last week, Israel’s world-leading air defense system has intercepted most incoming Iranian ballistic missiles, giving the Israeli Air Force more time to strike Iran without incurring major losses at home.

Now, as the war drags on, Israel is firing interceptors faster than it can produce them. That has raised questions within the Israeli security establishment about whether the country will run low on air defense missiles before Iran uses up its ballistic arsenal, according to eight current and former officials.

Already, Israel’s military has had to conserve its use of interceptors and is giving greater priority to the defense of densely populated areas and strategic infrastructure, according to the officials. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak more freely.

🔗 New York Times

🇮🇷🇮🇱🚨 Iran still has advanced missiles, Israeli intelligence official says

▪️Only 65% of the missiles launched by Iran in the last 24 hours were intercepted by the country’s iron dome system versus almost 90% the day before, a senior intelligence official in Israel told NBC News.

▪️The official, who is not authorized to speak publicly because of the sensitivity of the information, said that faster Iranian missiles launched in the last day have also given Israel less time to prepare before the projectiles approach their intended targets.

▪️“Until yesterday, we got an early warning of about 10 to 11 minutes before the missiles actually fell. But this morning, it was six or seven minutes. It means that the missiles were probably much faster than the previous ones,"

▪️A longtime observer of Iranian activities in the region, the official added that the regime, despite having suffered significant leadership losses when Israel launched its surprise attack last week, still has missile stockpiles that could sustain their retaliatory strikes for long stretches, describing their approach as “strategic patience.”

▪️Arguing that some in Israel and across the region have written off the country’s response ability prematurely, he added that the regime has “the resolve and the ability to continue and to sustain the attacks so we have to be much more careful whenever we speak about the imminent collapse of the regime, which is far from being true.”