Israel faces shortage of ‘Arrow’ interceptors amid ongoing missile barrage from Iran

Israel is experiencing a critical shortage of its long-range “Arrow” missile interceptors, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, citing an anonymous U.S. official.

This reportedly raised concerns about its ability to continue defending against Iranian ballistic missile attacks.

The report highlights growing alarm over Israel’s missile defense capabilities, especially as the country faces sustained attacks from Iran following a large-scale Israeli military campaign.

Last Friday, Israel launched a surprise operation aimed at neutralizing what it called the “existential threat” posed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions and missile arsenal.

In response, Iran has fired over 370 ballistic missiles and deployed hundreds of drones against Israeli targets.

So far, these attacks have killed 24 people and injured more than 500 in Israel.

Although Israel’s air defense systems have intercepted many of the projectiles, the intensity and frequency of the attacks have begun to strain its defensive resources.

The Wall Street Journal report also noted that the United States has been aware of the Arrow interceptor shortage for several months and has been assisting Israel in reinforcing its air defense.

However, American stockpiles of these interceptors are also limited.

After transferring many to Israel, U.S. officials are reportedly concerned that their own reserves could soon be depleted as well.

A separate article in The Washington Post cited an individual briefed on American and Israeli intelligence assessments.

It stated that under the current rate of Iranian attacks, Israel may only be able to sustain its air defense operations for another 10 to 12 days before urgently needing U.S. resupply or more direct military support.

According to the same source, Israel could reach a tipping point by the end of this week, where it will have to make difficult choices about which incoming threats to intercept and which to allow through.

“The system is already overwhelmed,” the source said.

In practice, Israeli defense forces have already been making calculated decisions to ignore missiles projected to land in unpopulated areas.

However, with the scale of Iranian missile barrages increasing, it has become more difficult to intercept all threats aimed at populated zones or critical infrastructure.

Israeli officials have not publicly confirmed any shortages in air defense munitions.

On the other hand, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told The Wall Street Journal that it is “prepared and ready to handle any scenario,” but declined to comment on matters related to interceptor supplies.

According to the IDF, most Iranian missiles launched in recent days have been intercepted, with success rates similar to those during earlier Iranian offensives in April and October 2024.

During those past attacks, Israel reported no fatalities—though one Israeli girl was injured in April and a Palestinian man in the West Bank was killed in October by falling missile debris.

What distinguishes the current wave of attacks is the targeting of densely populated areas.

This is as opposed to earlier Iranian strikes that mainly focused on isolated locations such as the Negev Desert’s Nevatim airbase.

As a result, the limited number of missiles that breach Israel’s air defenses now pose a far greater risk to civilian lives and infrastructure.

Israel’s military claims it had been planning the recent operation inside Iran for several months.

It also claims that it possesses reliable intelligence on the scale and locations of Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities.

On Tuesday, the IDF announced it had successfully destroyed approximately 40 percent of Iran’s known missile launchers since the campaign began.

Israel’s Arrow system is not the sole line of defense in this conflict.

The United States has deployed a range of advanced missile defense assets across the region.

These include ground-based Patriot systems, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) platforms, and Navy destroyers equipped with intercept capabilities.

These systems have actively intercepted missiles as part of the broader effort to support Israel.

However, apart from the United States, few of Israel’s regional allies possess the technology or capacity to intercept ballistic missiles.

These reportedly travel rapidly and require sophisticated systems to be neutralized within their brief 10-minute flight times.

As the conflict continues, the strain on Israel’s defenses and the need for sustained international support underscore the urgency of managing both battlefield realities and broader strategic risks.

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook