Iran's large combined attack on Israel on the night of April 14 was much less successful than recent Russian strikes on Ukraine.
Mobile fire Ukrainian Armed Forces group
Israel's success in defending against a massive missile attack by drones from Iranian territory on the night of April 14 underscored the vulnerabilities of Ukrainian efforts to defend against regular Russian attacks with similar weapons.
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This is stated in the analysis of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
We are talking, in particular, about the geographical position of Ukraine and the further depletion of the “umbrella” of Ukrainian air defense.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force launched approximately 170 Shahed-136/131 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles at targets in Israel in a set of strikes similar to recent Russian packages. >
“Russian forces have experimented with cruise missile, ballistic missile, and unmanned aerial vehicle strikes of various sizes and combinations, and now regularly launch large combined strikes against targets in Ukraine,” ISW noted.
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Iran's similarly large combined attack package was far less successful than recent Russian strikes on Ukraine.Israeli air defenses intercepted almost all of the approximately 320 air targets, with the exception of a few ballistic missiles. Iranian drones and missiles had to cross more than 1,000 kilometers of airspace in Iraq, Syria and Jordan before reaching Israel, giving Israel and its allies hours to identify, track and intercept missiles and drones as they approached the country.
Russian forces are launching drones and missiles from across occupied Ukraine and into Russia's immediate vicinity, giving Ukrainian air defenses only a fraction of the time that Israel and its allies used to successfully fend off an Iranian strike.
Half of the ballistic missiles launched by Iran did not reach Israel – media
Israel also maintains a robust air defense umbrella responsible for responding to potential attacks across shorter borders with its neighbors, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Ukraine, at the same time, is increasingly degrading its air defense capabilities to counter missile and drone strikes along the broader front line in Ukraine, as well as on its international borders with Belarus and Russia.Ukraine also lacks the ability to intercept air-to-air missiles using fixed-wing aircraft, as Israel and its allies have done. Ukraine's large area compared to Israel makes it difficult for Ukraine to maintain the density of air defenses that Israel has, especially amid persistent delays in U.S. security assistance.
“The depletion of U.S.-provided air defense capabilities due to delays in restoring U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, coupled with improvements in Russian strike tactics, has led to increased effectiveness of the Russian strike campaign in Ukraine,” the report says.
Zelensky: Aid to Ukraine is still limited, and the Russian Federation still has access to components for missiles and drones
Without significant and regular security of assistance to Ukraine Russian strikes threaten to limit Ukraine's long-term combat potential and create the operational conditions for Russia to achieve significant success on the battlefield.
“Ukraine needs significant stockpiles of Western air defense systems and fighter aircraft capable of intercepting drones and missiles to create a combined air defense umbrella that is even remotely as effective as the one Israel and its allies successfully deployed on April 13,” the researchers said.
The Russian strike campaign against Ukraine demonstrates that even a limited number of successful ballistic or cruise missile strikes can cause significant and likely long-term damage to energy and other infrastructure. Kyiv needs to create an effective and well-resourced air defense system with a high interception speed, ISW summed up. after the resumption of massive Russian shelling of critical infrastructure facilities
< li> EU High Representative Josep Borrell said it was “unheard of” for Western countries to be unable to provide Ukraine with seven additional Patriot batteries, given their arsenal of about 100 such systems that they could spare.
