The US loses $111 million in the Iran attack on Al-Udeid.
According to Newsweek, the publication has pointed out in a report the lessons that the US air defense forces have learned after Iran’s retaliatory attack on the US Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar in response to Washington’s aggression against Iranian nuclear facilities; and this amid a possible attack by China and North Korea on Washington’s assets in the region!
According to Newsweek, a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan, the development of North Korea’s missile arsenal and the bold and increasing movements of both countries in disputed air and sea areas have prompted American officials to accelerate their efforts to prepare, from the development of defensive and missile defense capabilities to the deployment of advanced fighter jets at bases located on the front lines.
Iran’s valuable lesson for US Patriot defense units
When Iran launched ballistic missiles at Al-Udeid in response to US B-2 bomber strikes on the Fordow nuclear facility in June, it gave US Patriot defense forces the opportunity and experience to intercept missiles fired by foreign forces.
The attacks, which involved the firing of 14 missiles at Al-Udeid, were a live exercise for US defense units, which are currently on high alert in Northeast Asia. Gen. Dan Keene, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, claimed that all personnel except 44 soldiers who remained to operate two Patriot systems were evacuated before Iran attacked Al-Udeid. Keene also claimed a week after the attack that a large number of interceptor missiles were fired to defend the base, but he called the exact number of missiles fired confidential.
The Jewish National Security Foundation of America (JINSA) previously wrote in an analysis that the US military fired about 30 Patriot guided missiles at 14 Iranian ballistic targets heading towards the largest US military installation in the Middle East, costing $111 million for the missiles alone! General Keene described the incident as “the largest Patriot intervention in the history of the US military.”
Timothy Walton, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, also said that the attack “helped strengthen the readiness of US defense personnel and the military plans to expand its Patriot forces.”
Walton added that “the coverage of the Iranian missile attack on Al-Udeid was significant, but other US military units that defend critical assets in Israel and conduct attrition operations to counter missiles and drones in Iraq and Syria have received less attention.”
According to Newsweek, the US military has deployed THAAD systems in Israel in addition to the Patriot systems to bolster its air defenses amid the threat of long-range missiles from Iran and Yemen’s Houthis. At least two THAAD systems are currently deployed in the western Pacific, one in Guam and the other in South Korea.
The US needs to replace its Patriot interceptor missile stockpile following its operations in the Middle East and the delivery of the defense systems to Ukraine.