Israel’s recent air attack reportedly hit a Russian-made air defense system in Iran’s Isfahan province, according to recent satellite images taken by Planet Labs PBC on Monday.
However, officials in Tehran denied any damage from the assault.
According to the satellite images acquired by the Associated Press (AP), the S-300 anti-ballistic missile defense system is absent in the area of attack.
Although the extent of the damage is unconfirmed, the strikes appeared to be a clear indication to Tehran that Israel could bypass its defense system.
Burn marks spotted
The satellite images taken on Monday morning near Isfahan’s dual-use airport and air base, some 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of Tehran, showed an area nearby that served as a deployment point for the air defense system.
Burn marks surround what analysts, including Chris Biggers, a consultant former government imagery analyst, previously identified as a “flap-lid” radar system used for the S-300, reported the AP.
Images taken on Friday also show burn marks in the area, but the less-detailed images fail to specify what was at the site.
“Umbra synthetic aperture radar imagery showed evidence of damage to the Iranian S-300 strategic surface-to-air missile battery in Isfahan,” Biggers wrote on Twitter.
System components removed from the site
“A probable damaged target engagement radar was visible in imagery still on the radar hardstand. Other battery system components, however, have been withdrawn from the site,” added Biggers.
“Their status and location is currently unclear. According to senior U.S. military sources speaking to FOX News: The Israelis hit what they intended to strike,” he further added.
It’s believed that the air defense system was placed at the site to give defensive cover to the underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.
Iran has been downplaying the attack, which forced the Islamic Republic to ground commercial flights across much of the country. The officials have called it a series of small drones flying through the sky.
“What happened last night was not a strike. They were more like toys that our children play with – not drones,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told NBC News on Saturday.
Can missiles evade the S-300 defense system easily?
During its recent assault against Iran, Israel reportedly used the Rampage missile, which previously bypassed the S-300 system in Syria in 2019.
The missiles hit a rocket production and storage facility in Masyaf, which S-300 protected. The attack suggested that Israeli-made precision-guided missiles successfully evaded the defense system.
Russia gave Iran its powerful defense system to Iran in 2016 after the country agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Tehran had signed an $800 million deal with Russia to acquire the system in 2007, but it was delayed due to pressure from the U.S. and Israel.
Iran is believed to have received four sets of S-300 mobile surface-to-air missile systems, which can counter multiple aircraft at a range of 195 kilometers and ballistic missiles at a range of up to 50 kilometers.
