Iran has destroyed a high-value US missile-defense radar system in the early days of the war, a loss that analysts say could weaken high-altitude surveillance and fire-control capability supporting air and missile defense coverage in the Gulf.
According to Bloomberg, citing a US official, reported that Iran took out a radar considered critical for directing US missile defense operations in the region. Commercial satellite imagery later pointed to the same outcome.
The satellite photos show an RTX Corp. AN/TPY-2 radar and related support equipment, used with US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems, was destroyed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. A US official subsequently confirmed the destruction of the equipment.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) said its data show two reported Iranian strikes in Jordan, on February 28 and March 3, which were initially described as intercepted. However, the confirmed loss of the radar suggests at least one strike penetrated defenses.
Ryan Brobst, deputy director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the FDD, told Bloomberg that a successful strike on a THAAD radar would rank among Iran’s most effective attacks so far.
The damage is significant because THAAD interceptors engage ballistic missiles at very high altitude, capabilities that complement lower-tier defenses such as Patriot batteries.
With the AN/TPY-2 radar offline, intercept operations may depend more on Patriot systems, where PAC-3 interceptor missiles have been described as in short supply.
The Jordan loss comes alongside other reported damage to regional sensor infrastructure. Earlier in the conflict, an AN/FPS-132 radar in Qatar, an early-warning system designed to detect long-range threats, was damaged, and there have been reports of strikes affecting SATCOM terminals in Bahrain.
Source: Bloomberg
