Once again, war proves just how expensive it really is. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says they took out a US-made THAAD air defence system at a site in Al-Ruwais, UAE, according to Fars News Agency.
That’s no small thing. THAAD is the world’s priciest air defence system, and Iran claims it destroyed it with a precision missile strike.
Iran Claims It Destroyed US-Made THAAD System in UAE Missile Strike
The UAE’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system is about as advanced as it gets. It can take out incoming threats with a “hit-to-kill” interceptor that flies at Mach 8, nearly 10,000 kilometres per hour.
The US built the system and sold it to key allies like the UAE, who’ve used it to fend off attacks, including the Houthi missile strike on Abu Dhabi back in January 2022.
$12 Million Interceptors at Risk?
Each interceptor costs around $12 million and is designed to smash an incoming missile head-on, right as it’s streaking downward at terrifying speed.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps didn’t stop with just one system. On Tuesday, they announced they’d destroyed a second US-made THAAD defence system somewhere else in West Asia.
According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, the IRGC fired precision missiles from its Aerospace Force that knocked out the radar of a THAAD system at the Al-Ruwais base.
The IRGC says taking out these two systems gives Iran’s missile forces more freedom to hit their targets and do it with even greater accuracy.
Iran vs US Air Defence
Iran has a high number of ballistic missiles, which are intended to be used in saturation attacks, such as short, medium, and intermediate-range.
This is contrary to US defenses whereby they are using sophisticated systems such as THAAD and Patriot to intercept threats. These systems can be put to the test with the volumetric strategy of Iran, the purpose of which is to exhaust the stocks of interceptors of the US. Therefore, the offensive missile potential against the defensive countermeasures of the current conflict is highly crucial.
At the medium and upper medium grade, United States Munitions Stockpiles were never better or higher– As was told me today, we had an unlimited supply of these weapons. It is possible to wage wars indefinitely and quite effectively on these means alone, Trump wrote on a Truth Social post.
