Defending Israel against Iranian attack, US may have used SM-3 anti-missile interceptors: Report

ISTANBUL

While defending Israel against Iran’s weekend attack, the US Navy may have used for the first time anti-missile interceptors that can be fired outside the Earth’s atmosphere, according to a media report.

The War Zone website reported that SM-3 missiles, which are capable of engaging intercontinental ballistic missiles outside of the Earth's atmosphere during the mid-course portion of their flight, may have made their debut in warfare to stop Iran’s attack.

Speaking to the UK-based iNews, Justin Crump, a former British Army officer running a risk intelligence company, said: “Drones are straightforward to knock out, cruise missiles are harder to intercept and ballistic weapons are the hardest."

He stressed that most of Iran's missiles and drones were intercepted by the Arrow-3 missile defense system, Iron Dome, and the David's Sling air defense systems.

Crump added: “But Iran did not use their most advanced systems. This might be because they are not really functional, or it shows they were just trying to send a message – in that case, it makes sense to use the oldest missiles you have.”

On the deployment of aircraft by the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) in Iraq and Syria to support US aircraft against the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group, he said: “So they weren’t put up to specifically shoot down missiles, but they would have been instructed: ‘if you see a drone knock one down’."

Crump also mentioned the USS Carey destroyer, stationed in the Red Sea, saying: “The US aircraft would have been aiming to shoot down the cruise missiles and drones, while the USS Carey’s air defence system would have been to down the harder-to-down ballistic missiles.”

Stressing that Iran knew its attacks would be thwarted, he commented: “In a way it was a double loss for Iran, they didn’t achieve much, and it showed their threat could be mitigated.”

Iran on Saturday launched an airborne attack on Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital. It reportedly fired more than 300 drones and missiles, with almost all intercepted by the air defense systems of Israel and its allies – the US, France, and the UK.

On Monday, Israeli army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said Israel would respond to the Iranian attack.

*Writing by Serdar Dincel from Istanbul