Israel running critically low on interceptors: US officials
The Israeli regime informed the US this week that it is running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors as their air defenses get squeezed by barrages of retaliatory strikes from Iran.
One US official told Semafor that the US has been aware of Israel’s low capacity for months. “It’s something we expected and anticipated," he said.
The US has included missile defense assets in past provisions of military aid to the Israeli regime.
But it’s unclear this time whether the US, the largest military arms provider to the Tel Aviv regime, might seek to sell any of its own interceptors to Israel.
“We have all that we need to protect our bases and our personnel in the region and our interests,” the US official said.
The remark comes amid broader Israeli concerns about interceptor depletion from a longer military aggression against Iran, leaving the US and its allies in a poor position.
The interceptors have been touted as being among the most effective defensive weapons against long-range fire.
Israel had reportedly entered the current aggression already low on interceptors that were fired during last summer’s war with Iran.
As the war with Iran rages on, US officials said, Israel’s long-range defense system has strained under Iran’s relentless and powerful retaliatory attacks.
US President Donald Trump claimed earlier this month that the US has a “virtually unlimited” munitions stockpile, although analysts have long said that US stockpiles are lower than the military would like.
Last June, the US fired over 150 THAAD interceptors during the 12-day war with Iran, the Center for Strategic and International Studies found — believed to be around a quarter of US inventory at the time.
According to some reports, the US is also believed to have used around $2.4 billion worth of Patriot interceptors in the first five days of the current ongoing aggression.
The Iranian foreign policy adviser told CNN this week that the country sees no room for diplomacy right now and maintained that it is ready for a long fight.
US troops and military assets have come under attacks across the region since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 in an unprovoked act of aggression.
Iran responded by launching missiles and drones at targets inside Israel as well as at American bases across the region.
Some regional resistance groups have joined Iran in targeting the US and Israeli military targets across Iraq and other countries across the West Asia region.
Observers say the Iranian military has dealt serious blows to Israel, the US, and its Western and regional allies militarily and economically.
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