From: The Warzone October 28, 2024 Israel’s deep strike capabilities
Israeli Strikes Knocked Out All Of Iran’s S-300 Air Defense Systems: Officials The apparent destruction of the last three Iranian S-300s would pave the way for expanded Israeli airstrikes.
Israel’s Reprisal Strike Carefully Calculated, Unclear If Jets Ever Flew Over Iran The operation was a balancing act of risk mitigation and deterrence that aimed to weaken Iran's offensive and defensive capabilities.
Israel’s retaliation strike on Iran targeted air defense positions and long-range weapons facilities.
Carried out primarily by the Israeli Air Force, it was a limited attack meant to weaken Tehran’s offensive and defensive capabilities and to highlight Israel’s deep strike capabilities.
The strikes on air defense sites, in particular, made Iran more vulnerable to a larger follow-up strike, a clear deterrent against further escalation.
By sticking to strictly military targets with few reported casualties, the operation also fell within the guidelines suggested by the Biden administration, and the threshold Iranian officials had previously suggested would result in no further kinetic actions.
the Israeli airstrikes appear to have involved air-launched ballistic missiles (ALBMs), with wreckage of at least one of these being discovered in Iraq. The same kinds of munitions were used in the spring of this year when another S-300 system was again the target.
Using these weapons, which include Rocks and Air LORA, the Israeli Air Force can strike deep into Iran, with considerable standoff distances ensuring that its crewed aircraft are not put in extreme danger.
It still remains unclear if any IAF aircraft flew into Iranian airspace, but some reports claim they did.
Even using only standoff munitions, this may have been necessary in order to reach targets in eastern Iran, although they may not have had to penetrate far.
At the same time, these weapons provide a combination of high accuracy and significant destructive power and are a major challenge to intercept.
