Sword and Shield: How Israel thwarted Iran’s drone and missile attacks

In an unprecedented attack on Saturday, Iran fired hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at Israel. However, Israel, with the help of the United States and Britain, successfully intercepted up to 99% of incoming missiles, demonstrating the effectiveness of its advanced multi-layered missile defense system.

The attack was the most serious multi-front attack on Israel in decades, with Iran launching a total of 330 missiles, including 30 cruise missiles, 120 ballistic missiles and a record 170 drones. The missiles originate from launch sites in Iran itself and in Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

“At one point we were tracking more than 100 ballistic missiles in the sky,” a U.S. official said.

Iron Dome protects against massive drone swarms

Despite overwhelming numbers, Israel, with significant support from the United States and the Royal Air Force, claims to have successfully intercepted nearly all of Iran’s projectiles.

Israel’s famous Iron Dome missile defense system played a key role in effectively resisting large-scale drone attacks.

Since its deployment in 2011, the Iron Dome has become a symbol of Israel’s defense capabilities, successfully protecting the country from rocket attacks fired by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.

The Iron Dome system is the first line of defense, utilizing advanced radar to detect incoming artillery shells and sophisticated command and control systems to assess threats. If a threat is detected, Iron Dome launches interceptor missiles that destroy the projectiles in mid-air.

Arrow system shoots down ballistic missile

While Iron Dome deals with drone threats, Israel also deploys the Advanced Arrow Weapon System (AWS) to deal with ballistic missile threats.

Israel’s chief military spokesman, Major General Daniel Hagari, confirmed that the latest version of the system, the Arrow 3, had “proven itself capable of resisting a large number of ballistic missiles launched by Iran.”

The “Arrow” system is specially designed to deal with the Iranian missile threat. It is a long-range defense system capable of intercepting ballistic missiles outside the Earth’s atmosphere. It uses a detachable warhead that collides with and destroys incoming missiles.

Dramatic footage is thought to have captured “Exoatmospheric” interception of ballistic missiles Arrow system released on Sunday morning.

david’s slingshot

Israel further strengthened its defenses by activating the David’s Sling system, a medium-range defense system designed to intercept ballistic missiles launched at medium ranges (usually between 100 and 200 kilometers).

The David Sling, developed jointly by Israel and the United States, can also target aircraft, drones and cruise missiles.

U.S. supports strengthening defenses

The United States plays a key role in supporting Israel’s defense. U.S. Central Command reported that the U.S. military successfully destroyed more than 80 drones and at least six ballistic missiles launched from Iran and Yemen.

Additionally, U.S. Navy ships equipped with the Aegis missile defense system shot down multiple ballistic missiles in the eastern Mediterranean. U.S. warplanes also struck and destroyed Iranian projectiles, underscoring the coordinated international response to the attack.

Despite the launch of a large number of missiles and drones, only a few ballistic missiles successfully reached their Israeli destinations, causing some damage to military bases and the Negev desert area, injuring a Bedouin child.

An Israeli official called the country’s response “the most complex air defense incident on record.”

(Information from Reuters, AFP)