A report by Galai Tzahal’s Amir Bar Shalom has revealed that only two out of eight SM-3 missiles launched by the US military during Iran’s large-scale missile and drone attack on Israel on April 13 successfully intercepted their targets, amounting to a 75% failure rate.

The SM-3, a ship-based surface-to-air missile, was used for the first time in combat to intercept short and medium-range ballistic missiles launched by Iran. While an American Patriot missile battery did manage to shoot down at least one ballistic missile, the SM-3 didn’t perform well.

However, the report highlights that this was only a small part of the US’ contribution to Israel’s defense that night.

In contrast to the missile defense system, US Air Force pilots, along with British, French, Jordanian, and Israeli forces, successfully shot down hundreds of drones before they could reach Israel. Additionally, no issues were found in the interception of drones and cruise missiles, and the US systems provided a crucial wide radar image of the missile attack, enabling many successful interceptions.

“They should be thanked for what they did,” Bar Shalom said of the American forces.

Israel’s own air defense systems had an impressive interception rate of over 90%, although this may have been lower without the assistance of other countries’ militaries intercepting many enemy projectiles before they approached Israeli airspace.

Iran’s attack on Israel consisted of approximately 170 attack drones, over 30 cruise missiles, and over 120 ballistic missiles, making it one of the largest missile and drone assaults in military history. With the help of the US, UK, France, and Jordan, Israel and its allies were able to intercept nearly all of the threats, with only about five ballistic missiles succeeding in reaching their targets and causing minor damage.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)