Three Interesting Tid-Bits so far from the Israeli Strikes on Iran

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I repeat things because they are important, and if I have learned anything in this life, it is that once you are sick of saying something, that’s the exact moment people are finally starting to listen.

So, never forget that if you want to know what you need to invest in at peace to be ready for the next big war, look at what is going on in small and medium-sized wars.

Small and medium-sized wars show what’s needed for the next big war. The Spanish Civil War foreshadowed WWII. Similarly, the wars in Ukraine and Israel will, imperfectly but well, inform what’s needed if war breaks out west of the International Date Line.

Here are the three that popped into my mind this AM.

Corvettes Do Anti-ballistic Missile work too

Some news reports are calling the Barak-8 missile carried by the Israeli Navy’s exceptional Sa’ar 6 corvettes as “Barak Magen”, but we’re really talking about the Barak-8/MX surface to air missile co-developed by Israel and India. Quite affordable and with superb reported performance, it is somewhere between the US Navy’s ESSM and SM-2. A reminder that the Iranians are not just launching ballistic missiles.

Israel activated a new aerial defense system – dubbed "Barak Magen," meaning "lightning shield" – for the first time on Sunday night, saying it intercepted and destroyed multiple Iranian drones.

The Israeli Navy intercepted eight Iranian drones using the "Barak Magen" and its long-range air defense (LRAD) interceptor, which were launched from an Israeli navy Sa’ar 6 missile ship, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

No land-based anti-aircraft missile systems are more survivable than sea-based ones. In addition to having a diverse and layered defensive system ashore, having sea based systems in the mix makes any enemy’s strike planning much more difficult.

Barak-8 already has a lot of international orders, this will only get them more.

The heavy in tooth-and-claw Sa’ar corvette concept is going to get a close look as well. Just a week after her land attack performance against Yemen. I’m telling you, at just 1,900 tons, I’m not sure there’s a more powerful multi-mission platform per-ton at sea. She can carry 32 Barak-8, and a whole host of other weapons. Check out the details at the link.

Lasers? Lots of Unschedule Range Time

In the crawl-walk-run development of the laser as a defensive weapon, we may have just moved beyond crawl.

Israel is developing a new system to intercept incoming threats with laser technology. Israel has said this system will be a game changer because it would be much cheaper to operate than existing systems. According to Israeli media reports, the cost of a single Iron Dome interception is about $50,000, while the other systems can run more than $2 million per missile. Iron Beam interceptions, by contrast, would cost a few dollars apiece, according to Israeli officials — but the system is not yet operational.

Is the 100kW Iron Beam going to get a test run now? Well, I was behind the power curve in asking that question, as it appears that it has been in used since the fall.

Extended range F-35A

Israel's F-35Is are already a heavily modified F-35A. Israel has a long-standing tradition of making their imported systems to better meet their requirements, so this is not shocking.

Regulars here know that the first think I want to know about any weapons system is its range. Range is life. Seems Israel gets it too:

Unverified claims have circulated stating Israel was able to take advantage of long-rumored modifications to its F-35 fleet in order to strike Iran without tanker support.

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All developments of such capabilities have remained very secretive, although in 2022 the Israeli Air Force made claims that its F-35 fleet was now capable of reaching Iran without refueling. It made no clarifying statements at the time about how exactly they had achieved this.

In our previous reporting, we referenced that initial design studies had been completed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and a subsidiary of Elbit Systems on both external 600 gallon drop tanks as well as conformal fuel tanks (CFTs). Theoretically, the latter would be most beneficial in reducing any detrimental impact on the F-35’s radar cross-section – it would also free up hardpoints for weapons, which is a major factor in why CFTs are utilised by many F-16 operators, including Israel. That being said, however, in full stealth mode it is unlikely any external weapons would be carried by the F-35s. Due to the need for pylons, drop tanks can introduce a large increase in radar cross-section, but many studies have investigated designs for low RCS pylon and fuel tank designs for precisely this reason.

Adding extra fuel to the F-35 would provide an enormous capability boost – the F-35A already has a combat radius well in excess of many other fighters, and with zero-drag internal weapons it can attain this performance with a significant payload.

Diverse defensive systems and range in your strike assets.

Note little of the Tiffany unmanned systems in this war? Note that as well.