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The Iranian-Backed Aerial Threat

(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Matan Yanko-Avikasis and Liran Antebi - In the war that began on Oct. 7, a variety of weapons have been used against Israel, including ballistic and cruise missiles, rockets, mortar shells, anti-tank missiles, and intelligence-gathering and suicide UAVs. A large proportion of these weapons are manufactured by Iran or are based on Iranian technology. The people operating them were trained by Iran to use, assemble, and maintain these weapons. In the weeks since the Hamas attack, Israel has come under attack with missiles and suicide UAVs launched from Yemen by the Houthi rebels; rockets, anti-tank missiles, UAVs, and drones have been launched at Israel from Lebanon; and even an explosive-laden UAV was launched from Syrian territory, which hit Eilat. Behind all of these is Iran. Most of these launches have been intercepted. This conflict has seen the first operational use of the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems, which intercept missiles outside the earth's atmosphere. Among the most lethal weapons have been anti-tank missiles fired at Israel from both Gaza and Lebanon. Their damage has somewhat colored the confidence in Trophy, Israel's active protection system installed on tanks and armored personnel carriers, which has an extremely high rate of successful interceptions. One missile fired at Israel by the Houthis in Yemen was intercepted by Saudi Arabia, which shares radar intelligence with Israel via the U.S. This was an illustration of how the Middle East Air Defense Alliance (MEAD) works; Israel joined MEAD in June 2023. Thus far, the barrages that Israel has faced have not exceeded the capacity of its aerial defense systems, but there is no guarantee that this will remain the situation if war breaks out on the northern front. So far, Israel's defenses have intercepted 2,000 missiles and dozens of hostile UAVs. Capt. (res.) Matan Yanko-Avikasis served in the Directorate of Defense Research & Development in the Israel Ministry of Defense. Liran Antebi is a senior researcher and manages the Advanced Technologies and National Security program at INSS.
2023-11-23 00:00:00
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