Footage Shows Iranian Missile Breaking Through Three Rounds of Patriot Air Defence Fire to Strike Key Base
Military Watch Magazine Editorial Staff
Iranian Missile Launch, Ballistic Missile Miliseconds Before Impact in Abu Dhabi, and Failed Patriot Launches
Previously unseen footage circulating online has shown an Iranian ballistic missile striking at Al Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and evading at least three surface-to-air interceptors launched by nearby MIM-104 Patriot air defence systems. The footage has provided further evidence corroborating multiple prior reports that Patriot systems have been ineffective against Iranian missile strikes. In the initial hours of hostilities in February, footage showed Patriot systems in Qatar consistently failing to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles. In mid-March a crew member from a civilian ship sailing through the Gulf of Oman filmed two Iranian ballistic missiles striking oil facilities at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, and failed efforts by local forces to use a Patriot system.
The aforementioned three pieces of footage all showed three interceptors launched against each Iranian ballistic missile, rather than the standard two, indicating an awareness of the lower than advertised probability of kill. PAC-3 interceptors cost approximately $4-6 million dollars, with export clients in Arab world typically paying closer to $6 million, bringing the cost of each interception attempt against Iranian short range missiles costing under $400,000 to around $18 million. This has ensured that air defence efforts are almost totally unsustainable. The capabilities of the U.S. and its strategic partners’ regional air defence network has been severely diminished since the outbreak of hostilities, with Iranian precision strikes having destroyed the sole AN/FPS-132 radar based outside the U.S., which was located in Qatar, and two AN/TPY-2 radars from THAAD systems in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, as well as multiple lower value radar systems.
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