What does Israel have in arsenal to use against Iran?
Al Jazeera :
On Friday morning, Iranian air defences shot down three drones above its central province of Isfahan.
Iran has yet to announce the results of its investigation into the incident, but the US said early on that Israel launched the attack. Israel has not commented despite speculation that it was behind it.
Observers have, however, been anticipating an Israeli attack on Iran as the next link in a chain of escalation that began with an April 1 attack on the Iranian mission in Damascus that Iran blamed on Israel.
The second was Iran launching 331 drones and missiles towards Israel on Saturday night in a well-choreographed attack, giving rise to expectations of an Israeli response.
But if Israel were to strike Iran, how would it go about it?
Israel has been planning strikes on sensitive Iranian sites for decades, but this response would have to be limited, part of the coded diplomatic and military dialogue between Iran and Israel.
Israel would have to hit a high-value target but not one so valuable it would warrant a further military response from Iran and push the escalation into a full-on conflict. So what are Israel’s choices?
Air strikes The two countries are more than 900km (560 miles) apart at their closest point with most of Iran’s military bases and nuclear sites more than 2,000km (1,243 miles) away from Israel.
For strikes deep inside Iran, F-15i Ra’am and F-35i Adir stealth jets would be used.
Both aircraft are optimised for long-range, but they would still need to refuel unless taking the shortest routes to Iranian targets near the border. The route would also be tricky.
It is unlikely Saudi Arabia or Jordan would give Israel permission to fly through their airspace to attack Iran because it could draw them into a potential conflict and stands a good chance of inflaming domestic opinion, already vocal against Israel’s war on Gaza.
Flying down the Red Sea and around Yemen and Oman to attack targets in southern Iran would mean a 4,700km (2,920-mile) trip before Israeli jets even reach the Iranian coastline.
The fastest route to attack targets in the north of Iran would be through Syria and Iraq.
The Israeli air force would have to suppress Syria’s air defences either by jamming or by cyberattack, as in 2007 when Israel destroyed what it said was a nuclear reactor being built in Syria.
Israel “switched off” a large section of Syria’s air defence radar network beforehand.
A technique like this could be used only in strategically important moments like a major air strike or at the start of a conflict.
Even if Israel could still do this, it’s highly unlikely it would “show its hand” and reveal a major capability.
Extended range External fuel tanks added to fighter jets can significantly extend their range but would make them show up on enemy radar.
There have been reports of Israel-designed fuel tanks that can be fitted on their F-35 Adirs that would still allow them to stay moderately stealthy and invisible to radar.
The tanks, to be jettisoned later, would allow the aircraft to reach and destroy targets much deeper inside Iran, return to their home airbases without being seen and fly unaided by the usual accompanying jets needed to destroy radar and protect fighter-bombers from other fighters.
