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Recent tensions in West Asia, particularly involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, have highlighted the growing importance of missile defence systems in contemporary warfare. The increasing use of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and armed drones has compelled countries to develop multi-layered air defence architectures capable of detecting, tracking, and intercepting hostile projectiles before they reach their targets. These systems play a crucial role not only in protecting civilian infrastructure and military installations but also in strengthening deterrence and strategic stability.

What is a Missile Defence System?

A missile defence system is an integrated military architecture designed to detect, track, and destroy incoming missiles or aerial threats before impact. Such systems combine advanced sensors, command networks, and interceptor missiles to neutralise threats during different phases of flight.

Key Components

• Sensors and Detection Systems:
  • Satellites and ground-based radar stations continuously monitor the sky.
  • They detect launches and track the speed, altitude, and trajectory of incoming threats.
• Command and Control Centres:
  • Advanced computing systems process sensor data.
  • Military operators assess whether the object is a threat and determine the appropriate defensive response.
• Interceptor Missiles: These are defensive missiles launched to destroy the incoming projectile mid-air.

Strategic Importance

Missile defence systems serve multiple purposes:

• Protection of lives and infrastructure by neutralising aerial threats.
• Deterrence, as adversaries may hesitate to launch attacks if interception is likely.
• Decision-making time, allowing governments and military authorities to evaluate response options during crises.

How Missile Interceptors Work

The functioning of missile interceptors involves several coordinated stages:

• Detection and Tracking: Ground-based radar scans the sky by emitting radio beams. When these signals bounce off an object, computers analyse the reflection to determine its speed, altitude, and trajectory.
• Target Locking: If the object is identified as a threat, the radar focuses on it, continuously updating its location.
• Launch of Interceptor: A command centre calculates the interception trajectory and instructs the launcher system to fire the interceptor missile.
• Mid-course Guidance: Radar tracks both the incoming missile and the interceptor, transmitting guidance signals to ensure the interceptor moves toward the target.
• Terminal Phase Destruction: In the final stage, the interceptor uses onboard sensors (seekers) to precisely locate the target and destroy it using either:
  • Proximity fuse: detonates a warhead near the target to destroy it with shrapnel.
  • Hit-to-kill technology: directly collides with the target using kinetic energy, a method used in many modern systems.

Major Missile Defence Systems in the US–Israel–Iran Theatre

United States

The United States deploys multiple interceptor systems forming a layered defence network:

• THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense): Intercepts short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during the terminal phase at high altitudes using hit-to-kill technology.
• Patriot Missile System: Provides point defence against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and aircraft, widely used to protect military bases and critical infrastructure.
• SM-3 and SM-6 (US Navy): Sea-based interceptors launched from naval vessels.
  • SM-3: Targets ballistic missiles during the mid-course phase outside the atmosphere.
  • SM-6: Engages aircraft, missiles, and drones in the terminal phase.
• Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC): Uses AIM-9X interceptors to counter rockets, artillery shells, and drones while conserving expensive missile defence systems like Patriot.

Israel

Israel maintains one of the world’s most sophisticated multi-layered air defence systems:

• Arrow-3: Intercepts long-range ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere.
• Arrow-2: Engages ballistic missiles within the atmosphere.
• David’s Sling: Designed to intercept medium- and long-range rockets, cruise missiles, and tactical ballistic missiles.
• Iron Dome: Highly effective short-range defence system used to intercept rockets, artillery shells, and drones.
• Iron Beam: A laser-based directed energy system aimed at destroying drones and small projectiles at relatively low cost.

Iran

Iran has developed indigenous and imported air defence systems to counter aerial threats:

• Bavar-373: Long-range air defence system capable of intercepting aircraft and ballistic missiles.
• Sevom-e-Khordad: Mobile system targeting aircraft and cruise missiles, improving survivability through mobility.
• Tor-M1: Short-range defence system used to intercept drones and precision-guided munitions.
• Majid and Azarakhsh: Systems designed primarily to counter drones and low-flying aerial threats.

United Arab Emirates

• Cheongung II: A South Korean medium-range air defence system featuring 360-degree radar coverage and vertical launch capability, designed to intercept cruise missiles and tactical ballistic threats.