Israel-Iran conflict: How ballistic missiles work and where can they reach?

In effect to Israeli attacks connected its atomic sites and elder subject figures, Iran has launched hundreds of ballistic missiles towards Israel, with immoderate striking targets connected the ground.

Although Israel intercepted galore of the incoming missiles, respective breached its defences, causing important harm and casualties, including hits connected cardinal Tel Aviv and different areas.

The nonstop size of Iran’s ballistic rocket arsenal is unclear, but it is wide considered 1 of the largest and astir precocious successful the region.

In the pursuing ocular explainer, Al Jazeera unpacks however ballistic missiles enactment and however they are being utilized successful the ongoing conflict.

How bash ballistic missiles work?

Ballistic missiles are long-range weapons designed to present accepted oregon atomic warheads by pursuing a ballistic, oregon curved, trajectory.

Launched utilizing almighty rocket engines, these missiles sprout upwards into the precocious ambiance oregon adjacent space, travelling astatine incredibly precocious speeds. Once their engines are chopped off, the rocket follows a predetermined path, re-entering the Earth’s ambiance successful a steep descent earlier striking its target.

What speeds tin they reach?

Ballistic missiles tin question distances ranging from a fewer 100 kilometres to much than 10,000 kilometres crossed continents.

Ballistic missiles are classified based connected their ranges:

• Battlefield scope ballistic rocket (BRBM) – little than 200km (124 miles)
• Short-range ballistic rocket (SRBM) – little than 1,000km (621 miles)
• Medium/Intermediate-range ballistic rocket (MRBM/IRBM) – betwixt 1,000km and 3,500km (621-2,175 miles)
• Long-range ballistic rocket (LRBM) – betwixt 3,500km and 5,500km (2,175-3,418 miles)
• Intercontinental ballistic rocket (ICBM) – greater than 5,500km (3,418 miles)

How accelerated tin they travel?

Ballistic missiles question astatine highly precocious speeds, allowing them to question thousands of kilometres successful conscionable minutes.

The velocity astatine which they question is measured successful Mach, a portion equivalent to the velocity of sound; for example, Mach 5 means 5 times the velocity of sound.

Some, usually shorter-range, ballistic missiles scope supersonic speeds (faster than Mach 1, oregon astir 1,225km/h oregon 761 miles per hour), portion others, usually longer-range missiles, tin question astatine hypersonic speeds – greater than Mach 5 (6,125km/h oregon 3,806mph).

A projectile, which according to Yemen’s Houthis is simply a hypersonic rocket named Palestine 2, is pictured astatine an chartless location, successful this screengrab from a handout video released connected September 16, 2024 [Handout/Houthi Military Media via Reuters]

How agelong does it instrumentality for Iran’s missiles to scope Israel?

The region betwixt Iran and Israel is astir 1,300km to 1,500km (800-930 miles). Ballistic missiles from Iran travelling astatine Mach 5 tin scope Israel successful astir 12 minutes, though the nonstop clip depends connected the rocket benignant and the motorboat site.

Why are ballistic missiles hard to intercept?

What makes ballistic missiles particularly unsafe is their operation of agelong range, precocious speed, and however hard they are to intercept.

Their fast, precocious formation way gives defence systems small clip to react, and erstwhile they re-enter the atmosphere, they descend adjacent faster, making interception adjacent much difficult. Some missiles besides deploy decoys oregon different countermeasures to instrumentality radar and rocket defences, making them harder to intercept.

What is the quality betwixt ballistic and cruise missiles?

Iran has besides utilized cruise missiles against Israel. Unlike ballistic missiles, cruise missiles alert debased and dependable similar pilotless planes, which helps them sneak past aerial defences. Although they question overmuch slower than ballistic missiles, giving aerial defences much clip to intercept, their debased formation way makes them harder to detect. Their quality to manoeuvre allows them to alteration course, alert astir obstacles and evade rocket defences.

While ballistic missiles from Iran tin scope Israel successful astir 12 minutes, cruise missiles whitethorn instrumentality astir 2 hours, and drones tin instrumentality up to 9 hours.

This picture, made disposable by the Iranian equipped forces connected June 18, 2020, shows a cruise rocket being fired retired to oversea from a mobile motorboat conveyance during a subject workout [Iranian Army via AFP]

Iran’s rocket arsenal

Iran has developed a scope of ballistic and cruise missiles implicit the past 3 decades. The graphic beneath summarises immoderate of Iran’s astir salient missiles and their ranges.

Israel’s rocket arsenal

Israel has an precocious rocket arsenal, including long-range and nuclear-capable systems, developed with decades of support from the United States. The graphic beneath highlights immoderate of Israel’s astir notable missiles on with their respective ranges.

What are Israel’s aerial defence capabilities?

The Israeli aerial defence relies mostly connected what is known arsenic the Iron Dome system, which is equipped with a radar that detects an incoming projectile, arsenic good arsenic its velocity and direction.

Other systems intercept medium- and long-range missiles. The David’s Sling intercepts missiles ranging betwixt 40km (25 miles) and 300km (186 miles). The Arrow System intercepts missiles with a scope of up to 2,400km (1,491 miles).