US depleted roughly half of THAAD interceptors in defence of Israel: report

WASHINGTON: (May 22) The US has depleted nearly half of its total inventory of advanced missile-defence interceptors in defending Israel in the now-paused war with Iran, The Washington Post reported.

The United States launched more than 200 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors in defence of Israel — roughly half of the Pentagon’s total inventory — along with more than 100 Standard Missile-3 and Standard Missile-6 interceptors fired from naval vessels in the eastern Mediterranean, the Post quoted US officials as saying.

By contrast, Israel fired fewer than 100 of its Arrow interceptors and around 90 David’s Sling interceptors, some of which were used against less sophisticated projectiles fired by Iran-backed groups in Yemen and Lebanon, the Post report said on Thursday.