Israel on verge of running out of missile interceptors – report

Israel’s arsenal of missile interceptors is reportedly critically low, while the US maintains it has enough supplies to shield its forces for a lengthy conflict.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Israel’s air defense network is running critically low on the interceptors used to shoot down medium-range ballistic missiles launched by Iran, several US officials have claimed.

According to a report published on Saturday by Semafor, multiple unnamed US officials said that Israel has informed the United States that its supply of heavy interceptors is dwindling.

Last June’s 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran significantly diminished Israel’s stock of large interceptors, the report said.

Iran’s use of cluster warheads, enabling a single ballistic missile to scatter dozens of smaller explosive charges across a wide area, has further strained Israel’s missile interceptor stores.

One official cited in the report said that the depletion of Israel’s interceptor stockpile came as no surprise.

“It’s something we expected and anticipated.”

The official said that in contrast to Israel, the US military is not currently facing a shortage of interceptor missiles.

“We have all that we need to protect our bases and our personnel in the region and our interests,” the official said.

The source did not say whether Israel had requested to purchase interceptors from the United States or if the US had offered to provide them, merely stating that Israel is “coming up with solutions to address” the problem.

While President Donald Trump has boasted that the United States has a “virtually unlimited” supply of weapons for its conflict with Iran, it is unclear whether America’s stockpile would be sufficient to cover Israel’s needs without stretching US air defenses too thin.

The US has already reportedly used billions of dollars’ worth of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor missiles, used to shoot down incoming ballistic missiles.