World
How Missile Defense Works (and Why It Fails)
Once a
The target,
In April and October, Iran launched two of the largest ballistic missile attacks in history at Israel. The world’s most advanced missile defense systems, deployed by Israel and the United States, stopped some of the missiles — but not all of them.
Neither attack caused major damage, but some Israeli and American officials said it may have been a matter of luck that it was not worse. After Israel struck back at Iran last week, Iranian officials threatened another round of retaliation, although their plans remain unclear.
Here’s why stopping a ballistic missile attack is hard.
Ballistic missiles like the ones Iran fired last month escape the atmosphere and accelerate to great speeds as they fall back down to Earth. It took only about 12 minutes for Iran’s missiles to reach Israel, analysts estimate. But there was far less time to make critical decisions about how to stop them.
Within seconds,
A defensive missile called
That’s all hard enough with one missile. But Iran fired
Radars can only track so many targets at once, and launchers, once emptied, may need a half hour or more to reload.
Beyond that, if they are concerned about future attacks, targeted countries may also need to make a critical split-second decision to
After Iran’s second barrage, in October, Israel said its defense systems had shot down many of the missiles, and those that struck appear to have caused limited damage.
But satellite imagery does show that the barrage, which analysts said used more advanced missiles, left dozens of craters at one air base, Nevatim. Had those missiles landed in a populated area, the death and destruction could have been extensive.
Israel’s best-known defense system, the Iron Dome, was built to stop short-range rockets, and is too slow and limited when it comes to ballistic missiles. For that, Israel relies on several more advanced layers of defense designed to counter ballistic missiles at different stages of flight.
The most advanced systems, long-range interceptors like the Arrow 3, operate in space, where ballistic missiles like those Iran fired spend most of their time. They are the first chance to stop a missile, but high above the atmosphere, there is no room for error.
Both an
The interceptor seeks
That’s because missiles like Iran’s latest are only about
If that weren’t hard enough, some ballistic missiles carry
It’s unclear how often interceptions above the atmosphere actually work. Governments tend to avoid disclosing specific interception rates, and they have every reason to present a positive picture, even when interceptions fail. So do the companies that manufacture the pricey systems.
When combined with U.S. antimissile systems in the region, Israel currently has the most layers of missile defense in the world. If outer-layer defenses fail to stop a missile, shorter-range systems that intercept missiles closer to the ground may have another chance.
But time runs out quickly. The closer a ballistic missile gets, the more dangerous it becomes. And even if a lower-altitude intercept is successful, the resulting debris can still be deadly.
If a missile succeeds in re-entering the atmosphere, often less than a minute remains before it strikes.
Defenses that work
As the missile nears the ground,
An attacker can draw on a variety of tactics. To distract the enemy, it can fire a volley of cheaper
Israel’s retaliatory strike at Iran last week targeted missile production sites and degraded Iran’s ability to produce the kind of missiles it fired in October. The attack damaged at least one rocket production facility, as well as fuel mixers that make propellant for Iran’s missile fleet.
It is unclear how Iran will respond or whether it will fire another round of ballistic missiles, but if it does, the fundamental imbalance of missile warfare will remain: Firing a ballistic missile is a lot easier than stopping one. And making a ballistic missile is cheaper and faster than making an interceptor to shoot one down.
Over the course of a protracted conflict, it could become a question of which side runs out of missiles first.
World
Israel's US ambassador says beeper operation will 'seem simple' compared to what is planned for Iran
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Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said there will be some surprises amid the Jewish State’s conflict with Iran that will make Israel’s explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies used by members of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria last year look “simple.”
“We’ve pulled off a number of surprises,” Leiter said during a Tuesday appearance on the TV network Merit Street.
“When the dust settles, you’re going to see some surprises on Thursday night and Friday that will make the beeper operation almost seem simple,” he continued.
Leiter was referring to near-simultaneous detonations of pagers used by members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group that killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded nearly 3,000 on Sept. 17 in Lebanon and Syria. The following day, at least 25 people were killed and more than 600 were wounded when walkie-talkies were detonated in the region.
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Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said there will be some surprises that will make Israel’s beeper operation look “simple.” (Getty Images)
Israel was subsequently found to be behind the attacks, in which small amounts of explosives hidden in the devices were detonated. A U.S. official told The Associated Press at the time that Israel briefed the U.S. government after the attacks.
But then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. “did not know about, nor was it involved in, these incidents.”
Leiter on Tuesday also posted a video message on X that was recorded outside the Situation Room in the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., where he explained that Israel was “not in the business of regime change.”
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Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said Israel was “not in the business of regime change.” (Getty Images)
“Today we continue to peel back the surface-to-surface missile systems that are spread throughout Iran. We’ve reached the point where between a third and a half have been demolished,” he said. “We hit today the broadcast center in the middle of Tehran after we informed the people living in the vicinity to leave. Hundreds of thousands of Tehranis have escaped Tehran to be out of the line of danger. And we took out the broadcast system. This is very important because this serves the mullahs and their information campaign, the propaganda campaign throughout.”
“Iran, to incite the public and to warn the public against any kind of demonstrations against the government,” the ambassador continued. “A lot of questions have been asked today about regime change. In many of the interviews that I gave, that was the key question. We’re not in the business of regime change. We’re interested in neutralizing the threat to our existence through a nuclear weaponization program in Iran and a ballistic missile program.”
Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful, and U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency have said Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon.
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said the Jewish State has “pulled off a number of surprises.” (Getty Images)
“If the Iranian people rise up and change their regime, that’s their choice,” Leiter said. “And if we play a role in facilitating that eventuality, then history will judge us favorably, I believe. It’s important also to emphasize that our economy remains strong and resilient despite the war, and the stock market in Israel once again, for the second day in a row, continued to rise.”
“We are working very hard to assist those stranded both in Israel wanting to leave and those wanting to get back to Israel, to their families, to their positions in society and the army,” he added. “And we’re hoping to find solutions through our neighbors in the next couple of days. We continue to press on. We continue to press forward. And we thank you for your support and prayers.”
Fox News’ Greg Norman and Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
Published on
Once reliant on coal for the majority of its electricity, the country of 36 million that currently holds the EU rotating presidency is trying to reduce its dependence on the fossil fuel.
With many mines becoming unprofitable and old infrastructure in decline, the Polish government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has planned a gradual closure of coal facilities in the south of the country. As the coal regions of the country come to terms with this shift, northern Poland adjacent to the Baltic Sea is booming.
Ignacy Niemczycki, the deputy minister in the Chancellery, briefed a handful of Brussels-based journalists on board the Jantar passenger ship, telling Euronews that the wind farm should have a lifecycle of up to 30 years and be a major part of the energy transition.
“It’s in the interest of the Polish economy to invest in renewables, nuclear, and gas to stabilise the grid,” the minister told Euronews.
Baltic Power – a joint venture between ORLEN and Northland Power
Situated 23 kilometres off the northern coast near Choczewo and Łeba, the wind farm is among the most advanced renewable energy projects in the Polish Economic Zone. The final installed capacity of the project is expected to reach 1140 MW, enough to supply electricity to approximately 1.5 million Polish households.
Poland also to invest in nuclear
Renewables will only be one part of the Polish energy mix. Plans for the first ever nuclear plant, which will also be located on Poland’s northern Baltic Sea coast, were put in place under the former Law and Justice (PiS) government and have been continued by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s current ruling coalition.
Niemczycki told Euronews that a second nuclear project is being considered and Poland is keeping a close eye on Canada as it experiments with the first ever mini nuclear plant, known as a Small Modular Reactor (SMR). SMRs could can potentially power up to 300 MW(e) per unit.
“We will see a major change in Poland’s energy mix over the next 15 years,” said Niemczycki. “Nuclear will become the new baseline, with renewables and gas providing flexibility and stability.”
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