Israeli army will replace Patriot missile air defense with more advanced technology

The Israeli Army announced this Tuesday that it will stop using Patriot anti-aircraft defense systems and replace them with “even more advanced technology”.

According to the military, this is a process that will take place over two months, in the middle of the offensive launched against the Gaza Strip, following the attacks on October 7 last year by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

In an article published today on the official portal of the Armed Forces, the American-made Patriot defense system was installed in 1991, during the Gulf War (against Iraq), remembering that the Hook systems, supplied by Washington in 1962.

“The Patriot system, known as Yahlom, in Hebrew, works against planes and ballistic missiles. The mission is to intercept hostile planes”, says the same text.

“The system has worked effectively and will continue until the last moment”, highlights the Army, noting that at the moment “it is an old system and difficult to maintain”.

“Therefore, we are reducing the (Patriot) batteries until the entire system is turned off,” the document states.

For the Israeli military authorities it is necessary to “advance and improve defense methods” also arguing that “innovations will provide a better operational response and better maintenance”.

The Israeli Air Force indicated last February that it had begun the process of closing several Patriot batteries and that the military would receive training to operate the Iron Dome system.

Even so, the Prime Minister of Israel or any minister from the ruling coalition has not yet commented on the future of air defense systems.

The Army’s announcement, via the internet, comes weeks after Israeli defenses and several of its allies – the United States, France and the United Kingdom – shot down hundreds of missiles and drones launched by Iran in response to the bombing, on April 1, of the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital and which killed seven members of the Revolutionary Guards and six Syrian citizens.

Iran has defended the attacks against Israel in the face of international criticism, arguing that they are part of a legitimate response and stressing that Tehran has the right to “self-defense” following the bombing, while reiterating the possibility of an even tougher response if Israel carried out a new attack.

From an international point of view, there were expressions of growing concern about the increase in tensions and the possibility of an escalation of the conflict through a direct confrontation between the two countries.