by Artemy Sharapov
[REGNUM] The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has exposed a number of problems with American air defenses. US military bases throughout the region are regularly hit, and US allies throughout the region are also suffering.
In the West and the Arab world, there is a belief that the Pentagon has overestimated the capabilities of its air defense.
| Of course they do. But are they right? |
One US anti-aircraft missile battalion of MIM-104 Patriot systems is composed of three to four batteries.
A battery consists of six to eight launchers, one radar station (RLS) and an electronic control station (ECS), transport and loading vehicles, and other equipment.
In other words, one battalion is approximately 20-30 launchers and three to four radars used to guide anti-aircraft missiles.
A battalion's coverage area can cover tens of square kilometers of territory, and batteries can be located at significant distances from each other.
WHERE ARE PATRIOT SYSTEMS CONCENTRATED?
The deployment of Patriot surface-to-air missile systems (SAMs) to the Middle East began in the spring of 2025, in anticipation of the first major exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran.
Sources at the American analytical portal Axios reported that at least one battalion was transferred from the Indo-Pacific region to cover American bases and Israeli territory.
At the end of June, the Pentagon announced an additional transfer of air defense systems from South Korea and Japan.
The second wave of redeployment of air defense and missile defense systems began in the winter of 2025–2026 as the United States prepared for Operation Epic Fury.
Satellite images have begun appearing online indicating the deployment of additional Patriot missile systems near Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, where a US Air Force strike force was stationed.
These systems were intended to enhance the capabilities of already deployed anti-aircraft missile systems covering American military bases in Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Patriot missiles are also deployed by US allies in the Persian Gulf: up to 20 batteries in Saudi Arabia, about 10 batteries in the UAE, up to eight in the Kuwaiti army, five batteries in the Qatari army, and two in the Bahraini army.
At the same time, the deployment of air defense systems to the Gulf region “exposes” other regions.
In March, the United States deployed air defense systems from South Korea to the Middle East, sparking protests from local authorities.
At least one more battery was transferred from Germany to Turkey to ensure NATO's Incirlik base was not left without cover. As a result, according to Western observers, by the end of March 2026, between 7 and 11% of all Patriot missile systems in the world were concentrated in the Middle East.
WHY WAS THE THAAD DEPLOYMENT NECESSARY?
Fearing retaliation from Iran, the US also deployed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense systems to the Middle East.
Unlike the Patriots, which are primarily designed to target incoming aircraft and missiles, these systems specialize in destroying ballistic targets in the upper atmosphere or beyond.
It is reliably known that the US Army has only eight THAAD batteries in service, and the system is also in service with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Each battery consists of six to nine launchers. Each launcher carries eight interceptor missiles.
Each battery also carries one AN/TPY-2 radar.
At least one battery is known to have been deployed in Israel. The systems also reinforced coverage of American air bases in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
In mid-March, these were joined by systems deployed from South Korea. Thus, according to various estimates, up to 40% of all THAAD systems in the world were concentrated in the Middle East.
But these anti-aircraft systems, as it turned out, were unable to protect either the objects they were covering or themselves.
WHAT DID THE "BLINDING" OF AMERICAN RADARS YIELD?
It's unclear whether the Pentagon had anticipated Iranian resistance, and if so, to what extent. But in the very first days of the conflict, American air and missile defense systems encountered serious difficulties.
As early as March 3, the New York Times published satellite images of American facilities in the Middle East that showed damage caused by Iranian counterattacks.
The footage allows us to state with a high degree of certainty that at least two AN/TPY-2 radar stations, which are part of the THAAD system, were destroyed. One radar was hit near Ruwais Air Base in the UAE, and the other near Prince Sultan Airfield in Saudi Arabia.
Iranian sources, in turn, published satellite images of the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. They claim to show a third disabled AN/TPY-2 station. However, due to the poor image quality, these reports are difficult to confirm.
In any case, targeted strikes on radars indicate that the Iranians were trying to find a weak spot in the American defense, military expert Konstantin Romanenko noted in a commentary to Regnum News Agency.
"Knocking out individual launchers that are still separated from each other is a difficult and somewhat impractical task, since they are interchangeable. But disabling a radar is a reliable way to blind an entire battery, putting it out of action for some time, " the expert emphasized. " Especially since even minor damage to the radar's surface leads to disruptions in its operation; it's a very sensitive piece of equipment."
According to the source, the radar's destruction speaks less to the quality of the THAAD systems than to the strategic miscalculations of the American command, which left critical equipment unprotected.
Moreover, the expert reported that the cost of just one radar is estimated at 485 million dollars.
It was likely the losses suffered in the first days of the conflict that forced the US to transfer missile defense systems from South Korea.
On March 24, Iranian media released footage confirming the destruction of Patriot air defense radars. Specifically, an AN/MPQ-53/65 battery fire control radar was destroyed in Bahrain by a direct missile hit. A separate strike destroyed an AN/TPS-75 three-dimensional long-range air surveillance radar.
CHRONICLE OF MISSILE DEFENSE FAILURES
After Iran's air and missile defense systems were partially "blinded," it was able to increase the effectiveness of its missile strikes against American military bases and Israel. In mid-March, American sources reported that five KC-135 tanker aircraft were damaged in a missile strike on the Prince Sultan air base.
Several videos have also appeared online showing that Iranian missiles often overcome air defense/missile defense systems.
One such video was captured on March 11 by a sailor from a Chinese vessel off the coast of Fujairah (UAE).
The footage shows a Patriot or THAAD battery firing multiple interceptor missiles, which are unable to intercept just one missile, which ultimately strikes.
Israeli residents also published similar videos. Later, further confirmation emerged: on the night of March 22, Iran struck the Israeli cities of Dimona and Arad.
The Maariv newspaper, citing a source in the Israeli army command, reported that the missiles were supposed to be intercepted by THAAD systems, but for unknown reasons, they managed to penetrate the defenses. The newspaper also reported that a similar incident occurred on March 1, when an Iranian missile struck the city of Beit Shemesh. This incident called into question the capabilities of American missile defense systems. Experts believe it is entirely possible that Iran used advanced weapons that proved beyond the capabilities of THAAD.
HYPERSONIC FACTOR
"One possible reason why the interceptors are failing is Iran's use of the Fattah-2 hypersonic missiles," says Konstantin Romanenko.
It is stated that when approaching a target, the Fattahi-2 reaches speeds of up to Mach 15, that is, over 18 thousand km/h.
"Even if these figures are somewhat exaggerated, it can be concluded that THAAD systems are not capable of dealing with such targets, which, moreover, can actively maneuver at high speeds," Romanenko notes.
Iran's counter-strike tactics apparently included partially disabling the most vulnerable air/missile defense elements with drone strikes in order to reduce enemy resistance.
The expert concluded that launching hundreds of old missiles and drones exhausts the enemy's anti-missile capabilities. More modern missiles then rush into the breaches in the enemy's defenses. This tactic exposed the shortcomings of the US-Israeli air and missile defense system. However, Iran was unable to inflict critical damage on the enemy due to a lack of modern weapons.
KYIV'S EUROPEAN ALLIES ARE DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
Regardless of the outcome of the conflict in the Middle East, its consequences are already being discussed, including in terms of the sophistication of modern missile defense and air defense systems.
Against the backdrop of the conflict in Iran, European Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius stated that the effectiveness of Patriot missile systems supplied to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in intercepting Russian missiles is declining.
"The Ukrainians typically used Patriot systems to counter ballistic missiles. At the very beginning of 2025, the Patriot's effectiveness was around 40%, but the Russians managed to modernize their ballistic missiles," Kubilius noted in an interview with Politico.
Russian missiles are now more capable of changing their trajectory, which is why the effectiveness of American anti-aircraft systems has significantly decreased, the European Commissioner stated.
US allies, both in Europe and the Middle East, are facing the same problem: systems that were once considered state-of-the-art no longer meet today's requirements. And American air defenses can no longer be considered impenetrable.