
Qadr ballistic missile https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2016/03/09/1023371/irgc-test-fires-different-types-of-qadr-ballistic-missiles, by Mahmood Hosseini
DefenseOne.Com is reporting that,
More than a dozen ballistic missiles were fired at the Al-Assad air base in Anbar province and a base in Irbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, a DOD statement said.
Not much to say here as the US DoD had decades to prepare against Tactical Ballistic Missiles.
* THAAD-Extended Range (ER) wasn’t built and bought. https://images.app.goo.gl/wYtY6Jw1JMx3SyCDA
* 747 Airborne Laser was cancelled and chopped up instead of mothballed and gutted for new laser electronics instead of the highly toxic slew of chemicals. I think a few 747 ABLs would have helped immensely now…just suited for these situations.
* MEADS wasn’t bought so one has to bring in heavy Patriot trailers (with no 360-degree radar coverage). Patriot is a trailer, not a SAM truck.
* Foreign SAMs weren’t bought like MDBA “Aster” or IDF “Arrow” or UK CAMM. Some of those are highly mobile truck-mounted SAMs, not trailers.
* The US Marine Corps has no long-range SAM defense.
Not everything can be shot down by CAP fighters or SHORAD Stingers.
So the USA had time to prepare and decided to stick with the Patriot PAC-3 when THAAD-ER needed to be developed. No decisions, wrong decisions, or whatever can cost Blue Force lives.
Fact Sheet on Iranian missiles. https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/iran/
Some satellite photos of damage to US base. https://www.npr.org/2020/01/08/794517031/satellite-photos-reveal-extent-of-damage-at-al-assad-air-base?fbclid=IwAR1OFh4WG8qqIjLsd9jyjxikyYOUK-zBbfjOSaRTNstN7q2FAJh10qqsDJg
More Damage Assessment photos. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/31769/satellite-images-show-the-aftermath-of-irans-missile-strikes-on-al-assad-air-base-in-iraq?fbclid=IwAR0rz7TaR5m1kHHIZVfgbMulUHPA_7kqJXN4ztqWG2B_TogIZ7bAy75xL-g