Tag: Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present)

Israel races to supply anti-missile shield

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Israel races to supply anti-missile shield

“Israel’s munitions issue is serious,” said Dana Stroul, a former senior US defence official with responsibility for the Middle East.

“If Iran responds to an Israel attack [with a massive air strike campaign], and Hizbollah joins in too, Israel air defences will be stretched,” she said, adding that US stockpiles were not limitless. “The US can’t continue supplying Ukraine and Israel at the same pace. We are reaching a tipping point.”

Boaz Levy, chief executive of Israel Aerospace Industries, a state-owned company which makes the Arrow interceptors used to shoot down ballistic missiles, said he was running triple shifts to keep production lines running.

“Some of our lines are working 24 hours, seven days a week. Our goal is to meet all our obligations,” Levy said, adding that the time required to produce interceptor missiles was “not a matter of days”. While Israel does not disclose the size of its stockpiles, he added: “It is no secret that we need to replenish stocks.”

…

The Israeli military claimed in April that, with the help of the US and other allies, it achieved a 99 per cent interception rate against an Iranian salvo of 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles.

But Israel had less success fending off a second Iranian barrage of over 180 ballistic missiles fired on October 1. Almost three dozen missiles hit Israel’s Nevatim air base, according to open source intelligence analysts, while one missile exploded 700 metres away from the headquarters of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency.

…

“We are not seeing Hizbollah’s full capability yet. It has only been firing at around a tenth of its estimated prewar launching capacity, a few hundred rockets a day instead of as many as 2,000,” said Assaf Orion, a former Israeli brigadier general and head of strategy at the Israel Defense Forces.

“Some of that gap is a choice by Hizbollah not to go full out, and some of it is due to degradation by the IDF. . . But Hizbollah has enough left to mount a strong operation,” Orion added. “Haifa and northern Israel are still on the receiving end of rocket and drone attacks almost every day.”

…

“During the October 1 attack, there was a sense the IDF reserved some Arrow interceptors in case Iran fired its next salvo at Tel Aviv,” said Ehud Eilam, a former researcher at Israel’s Ministry of Defence. “It’s only a matter of time before Israel starts to run out of interceptors and has to prioritise how they are deployed.”

Dana Stroul wrote the article that I previously posted back on September 28th.

Previously:

Israel and Hezbollah Are Escalating Toward Catastrophe (it’s not looking good for the IOF)

U.S. to Deploy Missile Defense System and About 100 Troops to Israel + More Updates

US-Israel Inch Toward Wider, More Dangerous War

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

by Brian Berletic

Beginning in October 2023 a renewed cycle of violence began destabilizing the Middle East. Hamas’ October 7, 2023 military operation into Israeli-held territory served as a pretext for Israel, not to dismantle Hamas itself, but to conduct an indiscriminate punitive military operation against all of Gaza.

US-Israel Inch Toward Wider, More Dangerous War (archived)

Related:

U.S. to Deploy Missile Defense System and About 100 Troops to Israel + More Updates

Israel—‘Hamas’ War

U.S. to Deploy Missile Defense System and About 100 Troops to Israel + More Updates

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The Pentagon announced it would send the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery and its crew as Israel considered retaliatory attacks against Iran.

…

The United States sent a THAAD battery along with other air defense systems to the region weeks after the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. It was not immediately clear how quickly the missile defense system and troops would arrive in Israel.

U.S. to Deploy Missile Defense System and About 100 Troops to Israel

Related:

How The US Navy, Coast Guard & USAF Work Together In A Theater Like Israel

The USAF provides ongoing ISR [Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] ops to help track rocket launches supporting missile defense. The Air Force also monitors militant activity in Gaza to assist with precision targeting to minimize collateral risk. 

…

Another strategic role of the US Navy and Coast Guard is protecting Israel’s offshore energy platforms.

…

During conflicts, USAF aircraft often provide aerial refueling, logistical support, or electronic warfare capabilities in support of other US forces and any allied forces that may operating in the theater. Air Force bases are also frequently home to US pre-positioned military supplies or equipment, which other branches can quickly access if needed. USAF bases also provide airfield facilities used by all branches and allied forces. The hospitals on USAF bases are frequently the closest and best place for casualties or evacuees to be taken. This rapid deployment capability ensures that the US can provide timely support during a conflict.

Stock depletion, declining supply prompt ‘Israel’ to restrict arms use

The US is unprepared for the scale of war it is provoking around the globe

The US is unprepared for the scale of war it is provoking around the globe

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The US is unprepared for the scale of war it is provoking around the globe

Saturday, 12 October 2024 — New Atlas

▪️Like many other US missile systems, production of THAAD missiles is low. Produced from 2008 to present, Lockheed Martin has produced 800 missiles, approximately 50 a year.

▪️It is likely not enough launchers exist to even launch the quantity of missiles required to defend against the type of missile barrage Iran launched in early October which easily overwhelmed Israel’s existing anti-ballistic missile systems.

▪️But even if they did, the 180 missiles Iran reportedly launched, requiring up to 2 interceptors each, would have exhausted nearly half of all THAAD missiles ever produced.

▪️The US is unprepared for the scale of war it is provoking around the globe.

This in in response to the following:

🇺🇸🇮🇱🇮🇷 US-operated THAAD anti-ballistic missile system reportedly to deploy to Israel…

▪️Israel’s response to Iranian missile strike may be on hold as US-Israel prepare for wider war Washington has long planned to provoke;

▪️US THAAD systems would be used in countering Iran’s missile capabilities as demonstrated in the early October missile strike;

▪️It is unlikely THAAD, other Western anti-missile systems will be capable of effectively stopping larger Iranian missile barrages;

▪️The risk of American troops dying “protecting” Israel will serve as a convincing pretext for the US to join a war it is using Israel to provoke;

▪️Continued provocations in the Middle East coupled with the US proxy war in Ukraine risks depleting essential military capabilities, especially anti-missile systems the US would need for the war it seeks to provoke with China;

Follow The New Atlas on Telegram

Sources:

US troops to reportedly operate THAAD anti-ballistic missile system in Israel

Lockheed Martin Delivers 800th THAAD Interceptor

Israel jails Grayzone’s Jeremy Loffredo, releases him pending investigation

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Source

The criminal case against the American reporter fell apart after an Israeli journalist testified that his own article containing Loffredo’s full video report had cleared military censorship. Yet Israel refuses to let Loffredo leave the country.

Israel jails Grayzone’s Jeremy Loffredo, releases him pending investigation

Previously:

Israel jails journalist who revealed damage to bases hit by Iranian missiles

No, They Were Not Hungarian Pagers

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

No, They Were Not Hungarian Pagers

But the fact is that the whole pager situation was a skillfully arranged smear campaign led by Mossad and the CIA against their own partner. These devices were indeed manufactured by Taiwanese Gold Apollo, which has a very high proportion of American top management. They were filled with explosives under careful control of the CIA and in April a large batch of devices was sent to Lebanon – at the same time that a delegation of the Knesset suddenly arrived in Taipei. However, the payments for the deal were made using the Hungarian BAC firm. The company does not have but a single employee, which confirms that it could not have produced the pagers.

All of this is a ploy for the media in order to shift the blame away from Taiwan and onto Viktor Orban, who is already very much demonized in Western discourse. The worst thing is that it is extremely efficient, because most of the world began to believe that it was Hungary that sent pagers to Lebanon and thus entered into direct confrontation with the Arab world. Orban’s representative instantly responded to the allegations, saying that BAC Consulting was “a trading-intermediary company, which has no manufacturing or other site of operation in Hungary”. Additionally, the CEO of the company 49-year-old Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono added that she was “just the intermediate”.

The story seems to have died down a bit now, but the mystery of the pagers remains. Will there be an independent investigation to determine their manufacturer? Most likely not, since all the evidence leads to the US, Israeli and Taiwanese intelligence services. This mystery will go down in history just like the events associated with the blowing up of Nordstream pipelines, as well as the so-called “massacre in Bucha”. No investigation, no evidence, no verdict.

Previously:

Both companies linked to the September 17th and 18th attacks on Hizbullah were U.S. government contractors

[2011] Golden Apollo held the FBI’s heart with a walkie-talkie

Latest Lebanon Pager Terrorist Attack Predictable, Preventable

Iranian Missiles Overwhelmed Israeli Defenses at Some Sites, Analysts Say

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
🧐💭

DUBAI—Iran’s barrage of ballistic missiles this week appears to have overwhelmed Israel’s air defenses in some places, despite causing limited damage, said independent researchers who examined emerging satellite imagery.

Iranian Missiles Overwhelmed Israeli Defenses at Some Sites, Analysts Say

Related:

Israel censors reporting on military sites hit by Iran, obscuring extent of damage