What Iran can do to hit Israel and what tactics to use

 Iran may very well try to use the tactics of Hamas to push the anti-missile defense through massiveness to attack Israel

Source: Defense Express

After Iran's threats to strike Israel in retaliation for the destruction of the Syrian consulate in Damascus, there are already predictions and warnings that Tehran will do so within the next two days before April 14, or even today.

In this situation, it may well be the beginning of a distance war between countries that do not have a common border and are separated by 1000 km. And that's why missiles can fly through Iraq, Syria, Jordan or Saudi Arabia. At the same time, in both directions.

But it is Iran that can strike first. For which he really has long-range means in his arsenal. The blow may well be struck by Iran only from its own territory, although this is doubtful given the fact that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps operates in Syria without any obstacles, because it has missiles with a range of more than 1,000 km in its arsenal.

In particular, Iran's main serial missile with an estimated range of 1,300 km is the Shahab-3, which is based on the North Korean Hwasong-7, which in turn is based on the Soviet R-17, better known as the Scud by NATO classification. The weight of the warhead can range from 760 to 1200 kg. The number of such missiles in Iran is not known, but the number of launchers is estimated to range from several dozen to fifty.

On the basis of the Shahab-3 in Iran, its longer-range variants were created, in particular, the Ghadr-1, which already has a proven range of about 1,700 km and a warhead estimated at 750 kg. Israel was already hit with this missile, but not by Iran, but by the Yemeni Houthis, who received a rather large number of various Iranian missiles. This happened at the end of October 2023 and was also the first use of Israel's highest-echelon Arrow 3 anti-missile defense system to intercept a target.

But in addition to these ballistic missiles, Iran can strike from its territory with Soumar cruise missiles based on the Soviet X-55. According to estimates, its range can be 2,000-3,000 km, and the size of the warhead, most likely, corresponds to the original one and can be up to 400 kg. But unlike the original, Soumar can be launched from ground launchers, which are quite primitive.

In addition to missiles, Iran also has long-range kamikaze drones, not only the well-known Shahed-136 with an estimated maximum range of 1,000 km, but also the Arash-2 (Kian 2) with a declared range of 1,600 km. And if the launches are carried out from the territory of Syria, then we will be talking about ballistic missiles, the names of which are also well known in Ukraine - Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar.

It is also evident that Iran fully understands the capabilities of Israel's anti-missile defense, which consists of three levels: the already designed Arrow 3 against medium- and longer-range ballistic missiles, "David's Sling" for the destruction of operational-tactical ballistic missiles, and already at the lower level "Iron Dome" . And the problem is that any anti-missile defense can be breached solely by the number of weapons released at the same time.

In October 2023, during a massive attack, Hamas attempted to push through the Iron Dome and the IDF fired more than 2,200 rockets and rockets, according to estimates. And it was precisely because of this that he was able to partially push the anti-missile defense system, because even if the proven effectiveness of the "Iron Dome" is 90%, with such a number, it is still two hundred missed objects. And it is possible that Arrow 3 and "David's Sling" will face an exam of similar complexity.

But Israel actually has something to answer for as well. If we exclude aviation, then Israel is armed with ballistic missiles of the Jericho family, of which the Jericho-2 with a range of 1,500-3,000 km and the Jericho-3 with a range of up to 6,500 km may be relevant. These estimates are only approximate, because Israel has not officially announced them, as well as the warheads of these missiles, which are obviously nuclear. But these missiles are objectively a means of last hope for the country.