$26 billion “launched” in 16 days. “Israel and the US have at most a month left.”

Israel's stock of Arrow ballistic missiles is running out. The United States also faces a similar deficit of THAAD interceptor missiles, according to the latest analysis by the British think tank, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

In its report, RUSI highlighted the rapid depletion of the arsenal of advanced interceptors, tellingly titling its analysis: “More than 11,000 missiles in 16 days of war with Iran.”

Israel's arsenal is running low after, in the initial phase of the conflict in the Middle East, the country's armed forces conducted intensive shelling of Iranian territory and neutralized ballistic missiles and drones launched by Tehran. To combat them, the Israeli army used 33 ballistic missiles and over 90 drones every day. A British think tank has estimated that at the current pace of operations, Israel could exhaust its entire stock of interceptors by the end of March.

Additionally, Israel likely lost several radar systems, forcing its air defense units to increase the number of interceptor missile launches for each incoming threat to increase the likelihood of eliminating it.

Although Israeli officials have publicly rejected claims that their country is facing a shortage of interceptors, RUSI's very detailed analysis suggests that supplies are running low.

According to RUSI's assessment, stocks of American THAAD interceptor missiles are in a similar condition (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), which US forces used extensively to shoot down Iranian missiles and drones during the first two weeks of the war with Iran.

According to the report, the US is at most a month away from exhausting available stocks of these missiles if the current intensity of hostilities is maintained. RUSI estimated that during the first 16 days of the conflict, the US-Israeli coalition forces used over 11,000. rounds of missile ammunition with a total value of approximately USD 26 billion.

Tadeusz Brzozowski (PAP)

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