According to a March 2 report quoted by Reference News Network citing the Rossiya Gazeta website, when the United States and Israel started a new conflict against Iran, they used the "disarmed first strike" tactic that had been practiced many times. The Israeli Air Force dispatched more than 200 fighter jets and carried out the largest air strikes in history against nearly 500 Iranian targets. F-35 and F-16 fighter jets were involved.
The attack mainly used Israeli air-launched long-range air-to-ground missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers. In addition, the latest long-range precision-guided air-to-surface "Rock" missile with a range of 400 kilometers was also used.
Military expert Yuri Knutov said that the characteristic of the above-mentioned missiles is that they can climb to an altitude of 30 to 40 kilometers. Then, when the missile enters the target area, it will dive at an extremely high speed. He explained: "If you want to attack the air defense system, the attack will fall in the so-called 'funnel blind area'. That is to say, there is an area above the air defense missile radar that cannot be detected by the system. Judging from Israel's battle reports, Iran failed to establish a ladder defense system at locations where it may be attacked."
After carrying out such a violent strike, the United States and Israel had expected Iran to surrender completely and accept all ultimatums presented. However, the Iranian leadership ordered the use of Conqueror-110 and Conqueror-313 ballistic missiles with a range of 300 kilometers and Witness-131/136 long-range attack drones to carry out large-scale retaliatory strikes against 20 US bases in the Middle East. During the strike, they successfully hit important targets such as Qatar’s anti-missile radar and the command headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
Currently, the United States has deployed two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region, led by the aircraft carriers "Lincoln" and "Ford". Knutov said: "Each aircraft carrier can carry nearly 90 helicopters and aircraft. The specific number of offensive air weapons has not been disclosed. Each aircraft carrier is escorted by'Arleigh Burke' class destroyers, which can carry up to 60'Tomahawk' cruise missiles or anti-missile missiles for defense against air attacks. The formation may also include'Ohio' class nuclear submarines, each carrying at least 15 0 Tomahawk cruise missiles. In total, the United States may carry nearly a thousand Tomahawk missiles on surface ships and submarines in the region, as well as F/A-18 and F-35 fighter aircraft carrying air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles. In addition, in addition to the Patriot system, the THAAD anti-missile system is also deployed in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Israel has also established a tiered defense system equipped with the Israeli Arrow-3 anti-missile system and the American THAAD anti-missile system. As for Iran, it has the largest arsenal of ballistic missiles in the Middle East. The number of such missiles may exceed 2,000. The first is the Conqueror-313 missile with a range of 500 kilometers and the Zolfargar missile with a range of 700 kilometers. Knutov also said: "I would like to specifically mention the Fatah-1 and Fatah-2 hypersonic missiles. In the last conflict, even Israel's much-touted Arrow-3 system failed to shoot down any of them."
According to him, shortly before the conflict broke out, there was news that Iran already possesses hypersonic anti-ship missiles. "If such a missile hits a ship, even if it cannot sink it, it will definitely cause serious damage and casualties on the ship, which may trigger a political crisis in the United States."
Iran will also use Witness attack drones, numbering in the tens of thousands. Knutov believes: "The number of ballistic missiles and drones Iran possesses shows that it can launch intensive attacks on Israeli and American bases in the Middle East for three to four weeks. I doubt whether the United States and Israel have enough 'Patriot' and 'THAAD' system missiles to implement sustained interception. It is likely that Israel will begin to experience a shortage of air defense missiles about two weeks after the actual military operation begins."
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency citing the Iranian Student News Agency on the 3rd, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired a missile and hit the second "THAAD" anti-missile system deployed in the Middle East.
