Dangerous Neighborhood: Middle East Nations Need Less Expensive Air, Missile Defense Tech.

• Date: 01 February 2025
• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Published date: 01 February 2025

MANAMA, Bahrain--On Oct. 13, a Mirsad-1 drone supplied by Iran to Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon stealthily entered Israel's airspace.

The twin-tailed drone--made of lightweight steel and plastic--was designed to avoid radars, had a forward-looking infrared camera to communicate back to commanders and was packed with explosives. It cost an estimated $20,000 to make.

There to stop it was Israel's vaunted Iron Dome, a multi-billion-dollar missile defense system famous the world over for its ability to stop rocket and drone attacks.

But in this case, it didn't.

The drone evaded detection and slammed into a military base, killing four Israeli soldiers and wounding scores of others.

Paying close attention to this case study was Brig. Gen. Abdullah Mohammed Al Nuaimi, Royal Bahraini Air Force air and missile defense commander. He talked extensively about the incident at the recent Manama Air Power Symposium in Bahrain.

Al Nuaimi said drones with bombs can be constructed for as little as $1,000 to $2,000 and are being widely used by Iranian proxy terrorist organizations such as the Houthis in Yemen.

The small island nation of Bahrain sits only about 90 miles from Iran across the Arabian Gulf.

"These are militias of Iran. They don't have a budget or a ministry of defense and all those things, but they can still employ these kinds of threats against countries," he said.

Royal Bahraini Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Khalifa noted that neighbors Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have come under attack from Houthi rebels in Yemen and that his nation is well within the range of their weapons.

"Today we see different militias that don't recognize the UN. They have highly sophisticated weapons and move freely around countries that don't have a strong military. These attacks don't just affect the oil and gas industry, but the maritime domain too," he said.

"Because of their weapons, they can drag the region into wars," he said. "So, it is important to defend ourselves with enhanced defensive systems and weapons that can destroy these militias and their systems so we can protect civilians in coordination with the UN." Inexpensive, easy to construct bomb-laden drones made in Iran are being widely used by Russia to attack Ukraine--and launched by Iran and their proxies against Israel--leaving Middle East nations wondering how to defend their airspaces against the asymmetric weapons.

Bahrain has acquired the PAC-3 Missile Segment...