"Israel faces a looming shortage of interceptor missiles as it shores up air defenses to protect the country from attacks by Iran and its proxies, according to industry executives, former military officials and analysts," "The Financial Times" reports this morning.
The UK business newspaper adds, "The US is racing to help close gaps in Israel’s protective shield, announcing on Sunday the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) antimissile battery, ahead of an expected retaliatory strike from Israel on Iran that risks further regional escalation.
The FT quotes, Dana Stroul, a former senior US defense official with responsibility for the Middle East who said, "If Iran responds to an Israel attack, (with a massive airstrike campaign) and Hezbollah responds too, Israel air defenses will be stretched."
She added that US stockpiles of interceptor missiles were not limitless. "The US can't continue supplying Ukraine and Israel at the same pace. We are reaching a tipping point."
The FT also spoke to Boaz Levy, CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which manufactures the Arrow ballistic defense interception missile. He said that IAI is working triple shifts to keep production lines running.
Levy said, "Some of our lines are working 24 hours, seven days a week. Our goal is to meet all our obligations," He added that the time required to produce interceptor missiles was "not a matter of days". While Israel does not disclose the size of its stockpiles, he added: "It is no secret that we need to replenish stocks."
The FT explains that Israel’s triple-layered air defenses have so far shot down the vast bulk of incoming drones and missiles fired by Iran and its proxies at the state from across the region. "The country’s Iron Dome system has shot down short-range rockets and drones fired by Hamas from Gaza, while David’s Sling has intercepted heavier rockets fired from Lebanon, and the Arrow system has blocked ballistic missiles from Iran. Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iraqi militias have also fired missiles, rockets and drones at Israel."
The newspaper also writes, "The Israeli military claimed in April that, with the help of the US and other allies, it achieved a 99 per cent interception rate against an Iranian salvo of 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles. But Israel had less success fending off a second Iranian barrage of over 180 ballistic missiles fired on October 1." The FT continued, "The US-supplied Thaad battery, which is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, will sit alongside Israel’s Arrow system. It bolsters Israel’s overall air defenses as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government plans its retaliatory strike for Iran’s missile barrage in October." The FT observes that Hezbollah has shown that it can still attack, "at least 60 kilometers into Israel despite weeks of Israeli attacks on its commanders and arsenal."
Assaf Orion, a former Israeli brigadier general and head of IDF's strategy division told the FT, "We are not seeing Hezbollah’s full capability yet. It has only been firing at around a tenth of its estimated prewar launching capacity, a few hundred rockets a day instead of as many as 2,000."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 15, 2024.
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