150 THAAD Ballistic Missile Interceptors Fired By U.S. During Iran’s Barrages On Israel: Report
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Israeli satellites took tens of millions of photos of Iran leading up to recent war
Yahoo is also going to be the first person to see what’s in the article, not the last. This is not the first time a person will be able to see the world, but it’s the first of many. This article is not about to be about the world as a whole, but a small part of it. It’s about the parts of the world that can be seen in this article. It is also a way to show how the world has changed since the beginning of time, and how far we have come since then. The world has a lot to learn from this article, but we can’t know what it will be like to see it now. We don’t know how long it will last, or if it will ever be as good as we thought it would be. We can’t predict the future, or what will happen next, or how much it will cost us.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
A satellite image shows airstrike craters covered with dirt at the Natanz Enrichment Facility, following U.S. airstrikes amid the Iran-Israel conflict, in Natanz County, Iran, June 24, 2025. (photo credit: Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS )
Leading up to Operation Rising Lion, Israeli satellites took millions of photos of multiple locations in Iran, the Defense Ministry announced.
Israeli satellites took tens of millions of photos of Iran leading up to, and during, the recent war, the Defense Ministry announced.
Comprehensive space-based intelligence gathering captured tens of millions of square kilometers through day-night surveillance, producing over 12,000 satellite images of Iranian territory.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Since the Islamic Republic spans approximately 1.6 million square kilometers and much of the Israeli operation focused on the Tehran area and Western Iran, parts of Iran needed to be photographed extensively.
This also means that Israel’s satellites were surveilling hundreds of different targets per day, the ministry said.
Overall, Israeli satellites surveilled hundreds of thousands of sq.km. in Iran on a daily basis.
A satellite view shows an overview of Fordow underground complex, after the U.S. struck the underground nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran June 22, 2025. (credit: Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS )
With Israel reaching a new level of power, quality, and volume in satellite use, the ministry said that the Jewish state has also shifted its use of satellites from only receiving an intermittent snapshot of the status of a specific spot in Iran for general analysis, to being able to maintain real-time constant tactical and operational surveillance of many places all over the Islamic Republic.
The launch of the Ofek 13 satellite
Ergo, satellites have proved useful against Iran in terms of altering live Israel Air Force attacks based on real-time analysis of the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile shooting patterns and trends.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Further, the satellites were able to achieve new levels of immediate battle damage assessments, enabling them to quickly determine the effectiveness of strikes against targets in Iran.
They were also used to determine the extent to which additional aerial sorties against a target may be necessary, and regarding complex and large objectives, which portion of such a target needed to be struck again, as opposed to portions of the objective that were already destroyed.
There were also significant advantages during the war with Iran in terms of the quality of surveillance from newer satellites, such as the Ofek 13, which was introduced into use in March 2023.
The Ofek 13 satellite, developed jointly by the ministry and the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), was launched using a Shavit 2 satellite launcher from an open space in the center of the country.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
At the time, Avi Berger, the head of the Defense Ministry’s Space Directorate, said, “The launch was successful. It went according to plan. The first indications from the satellite are also excellent. In the coming weeks, we will complete the technical tests and receive the first images.”
Besides the ministry and the IAI, the development and production of the satellite were carried out cooperatively with several other IDF divisions, including the 9900 Unit and the air force.
Back then, Berger had said that the “Ofek 13 is a radar-based observation satellite with the most advanced capabilities of its kind in the world, all of which are the result of Israeli development.”
Israel-Iran conflict may last only as long as their missiles hold out
Israeli officials estimate Iran had about 2,000 missiles capable of traveling 1,200 miles to hit Israel. A significant fraction was destroyed the moment Israel’s covert operatives in Iran and its fighter jets launched a surprise attack early Friday. Israeli strikes have eliminated 120, or one-third, of Iran’s missile launchers. Israel employs a multilayered air defense system, consisting of its famous Iron Dome, which intercepts lower-altitude rockets; the David”s Sling and Arrow systems; and expensive Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems delivered from the U.S. Some assessments project Israel can maintain its missile defense for 10 or 12 more days if Iran maintains a steady tempo of attacks, an individual says. The Marker, a leading Israeli financial newspaper, reported that missile defense costs Israel as much as 1 billion shekels, or roughly $285 million, a night. The level of interceptor stocks is a highly sensitive subject in Israel, but “it could be a factor in a ceasefire” this time as well, Inbar said.
Israeli intelligence officials estimated that Iran had about 2,000 missiles capable of traveling 1,200 miles to hit Israel, but a significant fraction was destroyed the moment Israel’s covert operatives in Iran and its fighter jets launched a surprise attack early Friday, kicking off the conflict.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Since then, Israeli military officials say that Iran has launched roughly 400 missiles from its remaining stockpile and Israeli strikes have eliminated 120, or one-third, of Iran’s missile launchers. Moreover, Israeli officials announced Monday that they had attained air superiority over Tehran ahead of schedule, meaning they could further limit the Iranian forces’ ability to carry out launches.
Already, the intensity of Iran’s barrages appear to be sharply dropping. After firing more than 150 missiles on the first night of the conflict, Friday, Iran fired a barrage of just 10 on Tuesday afternoon.
“Iran has to make a very, very difficult calculation, because they have a limited amount of missiles, and considering the rate of fire, they cannot replenish in real time,” said Fabian Hinz, a military analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Hinz noted that even the 150 missiles fired Friday night were fewer than the 200 Iran fired at Israel in October in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
Even so, Israeli analysts caution that more than half of Iran’s arsenal remains intact, and an unknown quantity of missiles may be hidden in underground depots.
Advertisement
And while Israel has significantly degraded Iran’s attack capabilities, mounting a defense has been costly for Israel. The Marker, a leading Israeli financial newspaper, reported that missile defense costs Israel as much as 1 billion shekels, or roughly $285 million, a night.
Advertisement Advertisement
As a result, observers say, a long war of attrition between Israel and Iran may not be possible — at least at the current intensity.
Without resupplies from the United States or greater involvement by U.S. forces, some assessments project Israel can maintain its missile defense for 10 or 12 more days if Iran maintains a steady tempo of attacks, said an individual briefed on U.S. and Israeli intelligence assessments, adding that as early as later this week, Israel’s systems may only be able to intercept a smaller proportion of missiles because of a need to ration defensive munitions. “They will need to select what they want to intercept,” said the individual, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. “The system is already overwhelmed.”
Advertisement
Tal Inbar, an Israeli missile expert affiliated with the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance in Virginia, noted that in 2014, Israel sought a ceasefire with Hamas days before it ran out of air defense interceptors. The level of interceptor stocks is a highly sensitive subject in Israel, but “it could be a factor in a ceasefire” this time as well, Inbar said.
Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Israel employs a multilayered air defense system, consisting of its famous Iron Dome, which intercepts lower-altitude rockets; the David’s Sling and Arrow systems; and expensive Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems delivered from the United States.
Inbar said a problem for Israel is that it largely relies on the relatively expensive Arrow system, which fires missiles that cost $3 million each, to counter attacks from Iran. While inexpensive and mass-produced Iron Dome interceptors are useful against rudimentary rockets fired by Hamas, the Iron Dome is as ineffective as “shooting a 9-millimeter pistol” at heavy Iranian missiles that hurtle through the outer atmosphere at several times the speed of sound, Inbar said.
On Friday night, Israeli air defenses failed to stop Iranian missiles that narrowly missed the headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces but slammed into central Tel Aviv. On Sunday night, an Iranian missile took a major oil refinery near Haifa offline.
Advertisement
And on Tuesday morning, videos filmed from nearby and posted on social media, which The Washington Post verified, showed four impacts from Iranian missiles in the vicinity of Israel’s intelligence headquarters, north of Tel Aviv. None of the four appeared to strike Mossad headquarters, landing hundreds of meters away, but one landed inside Camp Moshe Dayan, a nearby site that reportedly hosts Israel’s military intelligence headquarters and Unit 8200, the country’s premier signals intelligence unit.
Advertisement Advertisement
Iran’s state media reported claims made by its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that it successfully killed Israeli intelligence and military officials, but those claims could not be confirmed. The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As of Tuesday, the Israeli government said that only 35 out of 400 missiles fired by Iran made impact — an interception success rate of more than 90 percent. Twenty-four people have been killed, with more than 600 injured, the government said.
Advertisement
Iranian authorities said that 224 people had been killed by Israeli strikes as of Sunday, the most recent figures available. They did not differentiate between military and civilian casualties. In several cases, Israeli missiles and drones have struck densely packed apartment buildings to kill Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists in their homes. On Monday, Israel also struck the headquarters of Iran’s state broadcaster after Defense Minister Israel Katz pledged that “the mouthpiece of Iranian propaganda” would “disappear.” After the strike, the Israel Defense Forces said it had targeted an Iranian military “communication center” but did not offer evidence of a military presence at the location.
Advertisement Advertisement
Jim Lamson, a former intelligence analyst focused on Iranian munitions and now a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said Iran’s missile capabilities will continue to decline because Israel is now targeting its production facilities.
“Assuming their regime doesn’t change, or assuming they don’t agree to give up their missiles as part of a ceasefire, they’re going to have a huge problem reconstituting their ballistic missile forces,” Lamson said. “That is going to be a big result of how much Israel is able to damage and destroy their production facilities for missiles.”