Crucial Radars Draw Iranian Fire --- Tehran carries out strikes with drones on defense systems that blanket Gulf

 

The method is known long ago. Odysseus seeking to defeat a Titan, destroyed his only eye with a big trunk of tree.

 

Iranian forces have launched a coordinated campaign of drone and missile strikes targeting critical U.S. and allied radar installations across the Persian Gulf, aimed at degrading the region's air defense capabilities. These attacks have damaged, and in some cases destroyed, crucial defense infrastructure—such as the AN/TPY-2 radar systems—that serve as the "eyes" of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile shield.

 

Key Aspects of the Attack Strategy:

 

    Targeting "Eyes" and Ears: The strikes aimed at radar installations in Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia to disrupt the ability of the U.S. and its allies to track incoming threats.

 

    Low-Cost vs. High-Value: Iran is using relatively cheap, one-way "kamikaze" drones, such as the Shahed series, to strike sophisticated, multi-hundred-million-dollar radar systems.

    Destruction of Critical Infrastructure: Reports indicate the destruction of a $300 million AN/TPY-2 radar in Jordan, a significant blow to regional air defense, and damage to an AN/FPS-132 early-warning radar in Qatar.

    Blinding the Shield: By knocking out these radars, Iran seeks to create blind spots in the Western-led defensive network.

 

The Strategic Context:

 

    Retaliation & Escalation: This campaign is a direct response to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran, aiming to raise the cost of the conflict for the U.S. and its Gulf partners.

    Strain on Defense Resources: The continuous, high-volume drone attacks are depleting the stockpiles of expensive, advanced interceptor missiles (like PAC-3) used by the U.S. and its allies.

 

    Disruption of Command and Control: Beyond radars, strikes have targeted communication infrastructure, including at the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, affecting coordination.

 

This, strategy is a modern, high-tech version of known tactic—using a, simple, low-cost "tool" to blind or disable a much more sophisticated and bigger "enemy".

 

 

 

“Iran is targeting the radar systems that serve as the eyes of the air defenses in the Middle East, hitting several in recent days and degrading the ability of the U.S. and its allies to track incoming missiles.

 

Iranian strikes in retaliation for the U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign have hit radar, communications and air-defense systems in Qatar, the U.A.E., Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to U.S. officials, military analysts and commercially available satellite images.

 

The strikes are often carried out by Iran's one-way attack drones, such as its Shaheds, which are a fraction of the cost of the missiles that the sophisticated U.S. systems were designed to defend against. Iran has fired fewer missiles in recent days.

 

"Overall, our defenses are doing quite well. That said, it is clear that the Iranians have a sense of what type of targets they want to continue to press against, and that includes command and control and our ability to detect inbound missiles and drones," said Ravi Chaudhary, a former assistant secretary of the Air Force in charge of installations.

 

A spokesman for U.S. Central Command said the military remained at full combat capability despite the hits. The U.S. has been bolstering its defenses in the region, sending in more equipment and interceptors, U.S. officials said.

 

The U.S. says it is degrading Iran's ability to launch attacks by the day. Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, said ballistic-missile attacks had decreased by 90% and drone attacks had dropped by 83% since the war began.

 

The U.S. and its partners in the region use a network of Thaads, Patriots and other air-defense systems to shoot down missiles, drones and rockets fired by Iran and its allied militias in the region.

 

Those air-defense batteries depend on radar to detect incoming missiles and drones. Those systems are often rare and expensive. The conflict has also chewed through U.S. stocks of interceptors it uses to fend off missiles.

 

One of the most significant strikes hit a sophisticated early-warning radar system at Qatars Al-Udeid, which hosts the largest American military base in the region. The attack damaged the AN/FPS-132 radar, hindering its ability to function, according to satellite imagery and a U.S. official. The AN/FPS-132 is a wide-aperture radar designed to track many targets at once. The system costs as much as $1 billion.

 

Satellite images from Planet Labs show damage to the radar installation in Qatar. The images show debris on the northeastern face of the domed radar installation, the side facing Iran, along with water runoff, likely from efforts to put out a fire, according to Sam Lair, a researcher with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

 

"It demonstrates the fragility of some of these kind of higher-tier radars," said Lair, who published an analysis of the satellite image.

 

Iran also struck a TPY-2 radar attached to a Thaad battery in Jordan, according to satellite imagery and a U.S. official. The radar is a critical part of the ground-based missile-defense system, which intercepts ballistic missiles above the atmosphere.

 

Satellite images reviewed by The Wall Street Journal also show damage to three radar domes at Camp Arifjan, a base used by U.S. forces in Kuwait, and damage to a satellite communications system at the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

 

In Saudi Arabia, a satellite image taken on March 1 shows smoke billowing from a building at a radar site at the kingdom's Prince Sultan Air Base.” [1]

 

1. World News: Crucial Radars Draw Iranian Fire --- Tehran carries out strikes with drones on defense systems that blanket Gulf. Malsin, Jared; Czerny, Milan.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Mar 2026: A6.