How Did Israel Defend Against Iran’s Attack?

Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday evening, an attack that marks a sharp escalation in a long-simmering conflict that could tip the region into a full-blown war.

A spokesman for the Israeli military, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said that a handful of missiles had landed in central and southern Israel, but that most of them had been intercepted.

Iran last attacked Israel in April, in retaliation for the killings of its senior generals in Damascus, Syria. Israel, with help from the United States, Jordan and others, intercepted almost all of the more than 300 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles fired at its territory at that time.

To intercept aerial attacks, Israel uses a multilayered air defense system. Two of the main weapons are the Iron Dome and the Arrow 3. In the April attacks, the Iron Dome and the Arrow 3 shot down most of the missiles and drones, while others were shot down by the United States and other allies.

Here’s a look at the two Israeli systems:

Iron Dome

Israel’s Iron Dome defense system can intercept many types of rockets and missiles that fly in high arcs and so can be difficult to stop. The Iron Dome became operational in 2011 and got its first big test over eight days in November 2014, when Gaza militants fired some 1,500 rockets at Israel. Israeli officials claimed a success rate of up to 90 percent during that conflict, though outside experts were skeptical.

The system’s interceptors — just 6 inches wide and 10 feet long — rely on miniature sensors and computerized guidance to zero in on short-range rockets. Israel’s larger interceptors — like the Arrow system — can fly longer distances to go after bigger threats.

The Iron Dome was upgraded in 2021, but the details of the changes were not made public.

As the death toll in the war in Gaza has climbed, Democrats have called for President Biden to cut off the flow of American arms to Israel — or impose conditions on their use. Mr. Biden recently hinted that he could put some restrictions on weapons sales if his warnings to limit civilian casualties in Gaza are not heeded but said defensive weapons like the Iron Dome would never be in jeopardy.

U.S. officials reportedly assessed this summer that Iron Dome batteries could be overwhelmed in a full-blown war with Hezbollah. Analysts have estimated Hezbollah has stockpiled between 100,000 and 200,000 rockets and missiles.

Arrow 3

The Arrow 3, which represents the top tier of Israel’s multilayered air defense system, is designed to intercept ballistic missiles armed with nuclear and other nonconventional warheads outside the earth’s atmosphere.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Israel’s chief military spokesman, said in April that the Arrow 3 had “proved itself against a significant number of ballistic missiles” fired by Iran.

The system, developed with substantial financing from the United States, is a project of Boeing and the government-owned Israel Aerospace Industries and its subsidiaries, in cooperation with the missile defense agencies of the two countries.

The Arrow 3, tested in 2015 when it intercepted a missile flying just above the atmosphere, is an improvement on its predecessor system, the Arrow 2. The newer version is faster and can maneuver in space, according to Israeli officials.

Israel said last August said that the U.S. government had approved its request to sell the Arrow 3 system to Germany, setting in motion a $3.5 billion agreement.