The United States shot down more drones and missiles than Israel did on Saturday night during Iran’s attack, The Intercept can report.

More than half of Iran’s weapons were destroyed by U.S. aircraft and missiles before they ever reached Israel. In fact, by commanding a multinational air defense operation and scrambling American fighter jets, this was a U.S. military triumph.

The extent of the U.S. military operation is unbeknownst to the American public, but the Pentagon coordinated a multination, regionwide defense extending from northern Iraq to the southern Persian Gulf on Saturday. During the operation, the U.S., U.K., France, and Jordan all shot down the majority of Iranian drones and missiles. In fact, where U.S. aircraft originated from has not been officially announced, an omission that has been repeated by the mainstream media. Additionally, the role of Saudi Arabia is unclear, both as a base for the United States and in terms of any actions by the Saudi military.

“U.S. intelligence estimates that half of the weapons fired by Iran failed upon launch or in flight due to technical issues,” a U.S. Air Force senior officer told The Intercept. Of the remaining 160 or so, the U.S. shot down the majority, the officer said. The officer was granted anonymity to speak about sensitive operational matters.

  • MysticDaedra@fedia.io
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    3 months ago

    The implication is that without US assistance, Israel wouldn’t have been able to knock out all these missiles. That is unfounded, especially considering that Israel has one of the most advanced high-altitude SAM systems in the world, the Arrow and the Arrow II missile systems.

    • Chickenstalker@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      All defence systems can be saturated. Drones allow unprecedented swarm attacks that the old maxim “the bombers will always come through” have become relevant again.