Israel's Iron Dome struggles to intercept Iranian missiles - NBC News
Israel's Iron Dome struggles to intercept Iranian missiles (Illustrative photo: Getty Images)
Israel's air defense has recently shown a decline in its ability to intercept ballistic missiles launched from Iran. Over the past 24 hours, only 65% of incoming missiles were intercepted, compared to previous success rates of up to 90%, NBC News reports.
"Iran still has very advanced missiles, and they are making use of them," confirmed a former senior Israeli intelligence official who continues to receive daily intelligence briefings.
According to him, on the morning of June 19, Iran launched newer and faster ballistic missiles that gave Israel's air defense systems less time to respond. Previously, warnings would arrive 10-11 minutes before impact, but during the morning attack, the lead time dropped to just seven minutes.
"It means that the missiles were probably much faster than the previous ones. More importantly, the Iranians do have a navigation system for the final phase of the attack that helps them to be very precise and to attack exactly the targets that they wish, like the hospital today in Beersheba," he explained.
Israel is increasingly concerned that Iran still possesses large missile stockpiles and is capable of delivering significant strikes over a prolonged period. Israeli military officials describe Iran's strategy as one of "strategic patience," and note that some had prematurely dismissed Iran's missile-launching capabilities.
"The resolve and the ability to continue and to sustain the attacks so we have to be much more careful whenever we speak about the imminent collapse of the regime, which is far from being true," the official added.
Iran steps up attacks on Israel
On June 19, Iran launched a ballistic missile armed with a cluster warhead at Israel for the first time — a weapon particularly dangerous for civilians.
Just last week, one of Iran's missiles struck a residential building in Israel, killing a Ukrainian family. Later, it was revealed that the father of one of the girls who died is serving on the front lines. The child had traveled to Israel for leukemia treatment.
