ANALYSIS – Israeli air defenses, aided by American and allied defense systems and aircraft in the region, together intercepted the vast majority of over 350 missiles and drones fired at Israel from Iran, with at least 200 launched from Iran itself.
Iran conducted the attack against Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike that killed seven members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, including two top generals (and terrorist leaders) at the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. (RELATED: Welcome To The Heartland? Protesters In Midwest City Chant ‘Death To America')
Israeli media is estimating the cost of the interception at up to $1.35 billion.
The daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Brig. Gen. Ram Aminach, the former financial advisor to the Israeli chief of staff, who said, “The cost of defense last night was estimated at between 4-5 billion shekels ($1.08-$1.35 billion).”
“One ‘Arrow' missile used to intercept an Iranian ballistic missile costs $3 million, while the cost of one ‘Magic Wand' missile is $1 million, in addition to the sorties of aircraft that participated in intercepting the Iranian drones,” Aminach said.
Magic Wand is an alternative name for David‘s Sling.
Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted the Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari as saying that Iran launched about 350 missiles and drones at Israel.
Hagari confirmed that damage had occurred at the Nevatim air base in Beersheba while “99 percent of the threats against Israel were intercepted.” The damage at the air base, which houses modified Israeli F-35 stealth fighters, could have come from falling debris from intercepted rockets and/or an actual missile impact. (RELATED: Biden Warns Netanyahu After Helping Israel Thwart Iran Assault)
As CBS News reported, Israeli ground-based air defenses are multi-layered. They consist of the following systems:
The Arrow: This system developed with the U.S. is designed to intercept long-range missiles, including the types of ballistic missiles Iran said it launched on Saturday. The Arrow, which operates outside the atmosphere, has been used in the current war to intercept long-range missiles launched by Houthi militants in Yemen.
David's Sling [Magic Wand]: Also developed with the U.S., the David's Sling is meant to intercept medium-range missiles, such as those possessed by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iron Dome: This system, developed by Israel with U.S. backing, specializes in shooting down short-range rockets. It has intercepted thousands of rockets since it was activated early last decade – including thousands of interceptions during the current war against Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel says it has a success rate of over 90%.
Patriot: This American-made system is the oldest member of Israel's missile-defense system – used during the First Gulf War in 1991 to intercept Scud missiles fired by Iraq's leader at the time, Saddam Hussein. The Patriot is now used to shoot down aircraft, including drones.
These air defenses were augmented by U.S., Jordanian and Israeli fighter aircraft that likely focused on downing suicide drones and both ship and ground-based air defense systems in the area which helped down some missiles.
Meanwhile, Israel is also developing a much cheaper and possibly more effective laser defense system called Iron Beam. (RELATED: Israel Tests New Laser Missile Defense System)
This will intercept incoming threats with laser technology. A potential game changer because it is much cheaper to operate than existing systems, it is not yet operational.
Israel's air defenses had already been working overtime to cope with incoming rocket, drone, and missile attacks throughout the six-month war against Hamas.
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