The United States may have used between 96 and 160 PAC-3 MSE interceptors from the Patriot system to repel a night-time Iranian attack on US facilities in Jordan, according to an estimate by The Hormuz Letter. The Pentagon has not confirmed either the number of Iranian ballistic missiles or the number of Patriot interceptors used; however, an operation on this scale could exacerbate the shortage of interceptors, which Ukraine also requires.<\/p>\n
Briefly about the main points<\/strong><\/p>\n The escalation was preceded by strikes carried out by US forces on 30 August against two Iranian launch sites on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. According to US Central Command, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was preparing missiles to re-mine the strategic sea lane.<\/p>\n In response. IRGC<\/a> reported strikes on the King Hussein and Al-Azraq airbases in Jordan. American sources reported that virtually all targets had been intercepted, and no significant damage to the bases had been recorded.<\/p>\n The Hormuz Letter estimates that Iran launched between 32 and 40 ballistic missiles and assumes that the US could have fired three or four PAC-3 MSE missiles at each target. With an estimated cost of around $4 million per interceptor, the cost of 96 missiles would be approximately $384 million, 120 missiles would cost $480 million, and 160 missiles would cost $640 million.<\/p>\n The use of several interceptors against a single ballistic target is not unusual: it increases the likelihood of its destruction. At the same time, the calculation given remains an analytical estimate, as official US sources have not disclosed the total number of missiles in the salvo or the number of Patriots fired.<\/p>\n\n
The attack in Jordan was in response to the strikes on Larak<\/h2>\n
The cost estimate is based on the number of missiles in a salvo<\/h2>\n
US stocks in July may have fallen by a fifth<\/h2>\n