Estimate differs from Israel’s, possibly due to not counting launchers that are merely inaccessible; Trump says Israel a ‘team player’ on Iran, ‘will stop when I stop.'
US intelligence has assessed that around half of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers are still intact despite over a month of US and Israeli bombardment across the country, CNN reported early Friday, citing three sources familiar with the intelligence. Some of the remaining missile launchers are not believed to be accessible at present, due to having been buried under rubble amid the waves of airstrikes, the report said.
Israel said in March that it had destroyed or disabled around 60 percent of Iran’s estimated 470 ballistic missile launchers. However, the discrepancy between the two estimates could be put down to differences in how Israel and the US classify launchers that are intact but inaccessible, the report indicated. By Israel’s assessment, around 200 launchers were destroyed in strikes, while another 80 are not considered to be operational after the IAF struck tunnel entrances to subterranean facilities where they are stored. Separately, US intelligence assessments have also indicated that Iran still has thousands of attack drones stockpiled and ready for use, the report said.
The Islamic Republic also remains in possession of “a large percentage” of its coastal defense cruise missiles, which play a key role in Iran’s threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Additionally, sources said that while Iran’s navy has largely been taken out, the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) still have about half of their capabilities intact, including “hundreds, if not thousands, of small boats and unmanned surface vessels.” The IRGC is largely responsible for the harassment of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. (Read More)
