Tehran has missiles worth millions of dollars, and Tel Aviv spends twice as much to defend itself

Last Tuesday’s missile attack on Israel, which did not cause any major damage, cost Iran about $200 million, or just under 200 million euros. The Israeli defense system, which once again proved its effectiveness even if it was not perfect, required a much higher cost.

Cost analysis

The analysis is taken from the Jerusalem Post and starts from some data from the Israel Defense Forces, Israel Defense Forces: Iran fired 181 ballistic missiles, most of which were intercepted by the air defense system, thanks also to the cooperation of the United States, which with missile destroyers intercepted 12 missiles. The total number is about 200 because some of the missiles fell along the way in Iran and Iraq.

“A ballistic missile with a range of 1,500 to 2,000 kilometers is expensive,” Jerusalem Post analysts write. It is estimated that the production of each missile cost the Iranians at least a million dollars, and they used advanced models such as the Emad, Khaybar, and even the Fattah-1, which is said to be hypersonic, meaning it is capable of flying and maneuvering at high speeds. Its speed reaches five times the speed of sound, in an attempt to deceive air defense systems that are trying to intercept it. About $200 million is a good sum for a missile strike, and certainly not an insignificant portion of Iran’s missile stockpile. However, from Tehran’s perspective, it represents a relatively mild blow to its finances.

Reuters assumes that despite the sanctions, Iran earns about $35 billion from the sale of crude oil, so $200 million for a missile attack is not a high number from the ayatollahs’ point of view.

Israeli defense

On the other hand, Israeli defenses used Arrows missiles to confront the attack, and also resorted to Iron Dome. In this case, the costs are much higher, estimated at about $450 million. The Jerusalem Post newspaper notes: “According to the World Bank, Israel’s per capita GDP is more than double that of Iran: $50,000 versus $20,000. But Israel is a country with a population of 10 million, while Iran has a population of 90 million. The majority of funding for the Arrow interceptor system has come from the United States, which has invested nearly $4 billion in the project so far. As long as the United States is willing to continue funding Israeli air defense systems, as it did with the Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems, the main obstacle will be the pace of production of IAI and Rafael, as well as the purchase of basic equipment. “elements.”

For the Israelis, the upgrade of the defense network from air attacks is now represented by laser systems that will enter service from 2025 and whose costs are very limited.