The cost to Israel of the various anti-missile defense systems that it used to shoot down Iranian drones, as well as Iran’s cruise and ballistic missiles, was many times higher than the cost to Iran of producing and launching those drones and missiles. Iran may in the end renew such attacks, not necessarily in order that its drones and missiles hit their targets, but intending, rather, on exacting a very great financial cost on the Jewish state. More on the cost of Iran’s missiles and drones, and of Israel’s various methods of shooting them down, can be found here: “Israel’s Costly Defense Against Iran Onslaught Leads to Calls to Increase Budget,” by Troy O. Fritzhand, Algemeiner, April 15, 2024:
Israel must increase its defense budget significantly after seeing the high cost of defending the Jewish state against Iran’s massive drone and missile salvo on Saturday night, according to a former adviser to Israel’s top military official.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has “no chance of reaching a situation where you are able to maintain the required defense” unless the country’s current military budget is “doubled,” Brig. Gen. (Res.) Ram Aminach, the former economic adviser to the military’s chief of staff, told Israeli television on Sunday.
Israel, with the help of allies including the US, repelled the Iranian attack with striking success. According to IDF Chief Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, “99 percent of the threats launched towards Israeli territory were intercepted — a very significant strategic achievement. Of approximately 170 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that Iran launched, zero crossed into Israeli territory. From the more than 30 cruise missiles Iran launched, none crossed into Israeli territory.”
Additionally, “out of over 120 ballistic missiles, only a few crossed into Israeli territory, with the rest being intercepted.”…
It seems that only three ballistic missiles crossed into Israel, and only one of them caused any damage. That was a ballistic missile that landed on a runway at Nevatim Air Base, creating a crater that no doubt has already been filled in.
Just one day’s defense of the country against Iranian drones and missiles cost Jerusalem between $1 and $1.3 billion. The cost of producing, and then of operating, the various anti-missile systems — Arrow-3, David’s Sling, Iron Dome — is very high, and the Iranians know it.
Every such attack in the future, even if not a single Iranian drone or missile were to hit its target, would constitute a major drain on Israel’s financial resources. That may be enough to induce the Iranians to keep shooting off drones and missiles, even if they know that almost none will hit their intended targets. However, Israeli inventiveness may come to the rescue just in time. For years, Israeli scientists have been working on a new anti-missile defense weapon, the laser-based Iron Beam. The Israelis believe it will cost only $2 for each interception by Iron Beam. There have been delays in its production. In 2022, Naftali Bennett said it would be ready for use in 2023. He was wrong. But now we are assured by Rafael Aerospace that Iron Beam will be ready by the end of 2025. That will revolutionize warfare, especially that between Israel and Iran. The Israelis will then be spending virtually nothing to foil attacks that will cost Iran tens of millions of dollars. But Israel still has almost two years to go before Iron Beam will be ready.
How much did Iran spend on its drones and missiles? Its smallest drones cost a minimum of $20,000 apiece. Each of its cruise missiles costs $300,000. Each of its ballistic missiles costs $160,000. Do the math: Iran spent on its April 13-14 attack about $63 million. The IDF spent between $1 and $1.3 billion. From the financial standpoint, Iran comes out way ahead. It did not cause any physical damage to Israel – save for that runway crater — but it did leave a deep wound to the country’s exchequer.
But between now and the end of 2025, when Iron Beam should be in use, the possibility of other Iranian attacks, using drones and missiles that will cost Israel 15-20 times as much to intercept as they will cost Iran to produce and launch them, means that Israel has to be prepared to greatly increase its defense budget And the same holds true if the missiles are launched not by Iran, but by Hezbollah, which has 150,000 missiles and rockets ready to be fired at the Jewish state. If Biden wants to demonstrate that “ironclad” commitment to Israel’s defense that he keeps talking about, here’s a good way to show it: add another $10 billion to the aid package still to be approved for Israel, to make sure the Jewish state can pay for its expensive anti-missile defenses.
“For the Iranians, it costs less than 10 percent of what it costs us to stop it,” he explained. “If we look into the future, in a year, two years, or five years, they can also conduct 50 such attacks, and you want to be ready for the number of attacks. So, we need to try to understand how much defense we need. Let’s say if the IDF’s net budget in 2023 was 60 billion shekels, with less than double that you have no chance of reaching the required quantities.”
I am surprised that General Aminach does not mention the Iron Beam. Likely, he doesn’t want to count his chickens before they are hatched. He doesn’t want Israelis to rely on some spectacular advance in the future that looks most promising but may, in the end, not pan out, or may be ready not in 2025, but instead in 2030.
When asked where the additional money would come from, Aminach claimed that bringing Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish population more into the workforce would “contribute to the GDP approximately 150 billion.”…
Having fewer davening yeshiva bochers, studying their lives away, and demanding that the ultra-Orthodox go to work, will certainly increase Israel’s GDP. But that won’t happen overnight, and it may not happen at all, if there is stiff resistance from the ultra-Orthodox, who form a powerful political bloc. But should they enter the workforce, that will increase the GDP, General Aminach calculates, by $50 billion. That will be more than enough to pay for those expensive anti-missile defenses — Arrow-3, David’s Sling, Iron Dome — that were just used by Israel to such great effect.
I wonder how the United States, had it been attacked as Israel has just been attacked by Iran, with many hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles, by a country called Estotiland, and managed to intercept 99% of them, would have reacted if it had then been told by the rest of the world to “exercise restraint” and “not retaliate.” Actually, I don’t wonder. I know exactly how the American government would react. Our missiles and fighter jets would already be on their way to targets in Estotiland.
somehistory says
“The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy (Jesus Christ).”
Those in the U.S. blocking traffic and causing business and life disruptions, are costing businesses and taxpayers time and money.
iran making Israel spend money defending its citizens, using hezbollah’s attacks …still ongoing….and hamas, still ongoing…costing Israel in time and money..
All of them…the ‘protestors’ and iran, directly and through proxies are snakes, and copying the methods of “the thief.”
ed says
Destroy the source of the missiles/drones
maria says
Yes it is the only way to destroy hamas and all muslim gazan
Ian Senior says
The international community need to support Israel from Islam and the mad mullahs.
Wellington says
Ian Senior: I agree were the international community one that had its act together, knowledgeable and wise, but the so-called international community is largely made up of evil, avaricious, stupid and overall ignorant elements and why what’s left of the sensible world (not much) should pull out of the UN, which is a disgusting, parasitic, America-hating, Israel-hating, liberty-hating organization.
As for the rest of the “international community,” minus the UN, it is equally pathetic, cowardly and monumentally untrustworthy. This is where mankind as a whole is at present. I wish it weren’t but then by now I wish that Islam, Marxism and all forms of fascism were dinosaurs, and freedom accompanied by responsibility for one’s actions reigned across the Earth. But not here yet or anywhere close to there yet, now are we?
Frank Anderson says
I suggest it is error to compare the cost of defensive measures to the costs of the offensive missiles. The more meaningful comparison is the cost of defensive measures to the VALUE of the damage prevented when successful. A cheap incoming missile could to millions of dollars in damage and kill tens or hundreds of people but for the expensive missile that stops it.
James Lincoln says
Excellent points made, Frank.
Frank Anderson says
Thank you. I spent 2 years in accounting school to learn a few more things.
I always wish you well.
Keys says
Great point Frank Anderson!
It made me think of the Old Testament’s “an eye for an eye”. Israel can also produce a thousand, and more, $20,000, accurate, and destructive drones and launch them all at once on Iran.
Iran does not have the defensive weapons that Israel has, so that type of attack would be very costly to Iran. Not because of the defensive cost, but as you say, because of the cost of the damage done.
Taffy says
“The cost to Israel of the various anti-missile defense systems that it used to shoot down Iranian drones, as well as Iran’s cruise and ballistic missiles, was many times higher than the cost to Iran of producing and launching those drones and missiles.”
This is an incorrect comparison! Iran never figured in the costs of launching the missiles to include retaliatory strikes by Israel on its oil refineries, its parliament building, the Ayatollah, Raisi, and a host of “soft” but expensive targets. This should not be Israel’s opportunity to target hardened Iranian nuclear facilities. Rather, Israel should use this as an opportunity to inflict as much economic damage to Iran as possible. Israel has already shown success that they will win a standoff war. And, Iran has no ability to fight a ground war. The supremacy of the Israeli Air Force will ensure that.
Daffy Duck says
And so, why not sell Iron Dome to Europe? Or Ukraine? Make it a business opportunity (make the world safer?).
Rick Smith says
You never win a war on the defense…in a sense it’s a war of attrition…the enemy is bleeding Israel financially, it’s another way to destroy it.
I don’t understand how Israel allowed terrorist groups to rain down rockets on its land and for decades…I can’t imagine any self-respecting, strong nation would tolerate that even for a day.
Imagine trying to sleep at night day after day with sirens, rockets and explosions going off.
What is needed is a plan for a permanent solution for peace for Israel. This means going after your enemies with full force like they finally did with Hamas.
Neutralize the terrorist threat, destroy their missile batteries, wipe out as many of the terrorists as you can get your hands on….do the same with Iran. The regime is very weak already and can collapse from within if enough Iranians organize and fight them.
While I think it’s good Israel has been able to improve its defenses thanks to Muslim idiots waging their endless Jihad against them, but there is a time to say enough is enough.
Let’s also not forget, Iran has shown that its missiles can reach Israel, which if some of them are carrying nukes? Israel cannot afford to be complacent any longer….Iran also hates the UK and the US…so they can easily bomb their cities as well.
I think far too many people in the West are sleep-walking through life…not realizing the danger is real and should Iran happen to acquire nukes, it could be a catastrophe for the world…they can smuggle them onto shipping containers as they cannot inspect them all and then nuke major western cities.
So this isn’t just Israel’s problem, it’s every western nation’s that refuses to bow to these zombies from the death cult of Islam.
jdow says
Alex Hollings as “sandboxx” on YouTube neatly takes this down. As a percentage of budgets or GDP Iran spent FAR more than the coalition that protected Israel. Israel was not alone. Many other nations, including some Arab nations such as Jordon, wasted a large portion of the missiles and drones. Their budget is higher than Iran’s by a huge margin.
Note also that Iran demonstrated extreme unreliability of their weapons. Nearly half of the ones they fired never left Iran. “Allah wills” found deaf ears. Either Allah ignored them as he willed their failure or Allah is revealed as a scam, right?
This take on it is rather weak as an argument.
{^_^}
OLD GUY says
Hit Iran where it hurts in the Wallet of the leadership. Destroy their source of income and security and hunt down the leaders.