According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing mehr News Agency and newsweek, the publication outlined key lessons learned by U.S.air defense forces following Iran’s retaliatory strike on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. This attack responded to Washington’s aggression against Iran’s nuclear facilities and occurred amid growing concerns about possible assaults by China and North Korea on American assets in the region.
Newsweek noted that China’s potential invasion of Taiwan, North Korea’s advancing missile arsenal, and increasingly bold maneuvers by both countries in disputed airspace and waters have driven U.S. officials to accelerate preparations. These efforts include enhancing air defense and missile capabilities and also deploying advanced fighter jets at frontline bases.
A Valuable Lesson from Iran for Patriot Air Defense Units
When Iran launched ballistic missiles at Al Udeid in June, in retaliation for a B-2 bomber strike on the Fordow nuclear facility, it gave American Patriot air defense units an chance to intercept inbound missiles launched by a foreign adversary.
The attack involved 14 missiles targeting Al Udeid base.For these defense units-currently on alert in Northeast Asia-it served as a live-fire exercise. General Dan Kin,Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,claimed that prior to Iran’s attack,all personnel except 44 soldiers operating two Patriot systems had been evacuated from the base. The week following the strike, Kin stated numerous interceptor missiles were fired defending the base but kept exact figures classified.
The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) previously analyzed that around 30 guided Patriot interceptors were launched against 14 Iranian ballistic targets heading toward America’s largest military installation in the Middle east-costing approximately $111 million just for missile expenditures. General Kin described this event as “the largest use of Patriots in American military history.”
Timothy Walton, senior fellow at The Hudson Institute think tank, said this attack “helped boost readiness among American air defense personnel” and confirmed plans to expand America’s Patriot forces.
Walton added that while coverage of Iran’s missile assault on Al Udeid was significant, other units protecting critical Israeli assets or conducting protracted operations countering missile threats and drones across Iraq and Syria received far less attention.
According to Newsweek’s report, aside from Patriots, the United States has deployed THAAD systems to strengthen regional air defenses amid long-range Iranian missile threats as well as those posed by Yemen’s Houthi (Ansarallah) forces-in Israel specifically-and currently maintains at least two THAAD batteries stationed westward across the Pacific: one each in Guam and South Korea.
The cumulative impact of Middle Eastern operations combined with providing allied countries like Ukraine with air defense systems necessitates replenishing America’s interceptor missile stockpile within its arsenal.
