The "turn-based" game of revenge between Israel and Iran has come to an end for the time being. Compared with the Israeli army's air raids, Iran's "missile rain" is undoubtedly more satisfying. Although the "missile scrubbing" method of attack is not new, this simple and crude but effective attack method has achieved remarkable results. In order to save face, Israel has no regard for the fact that its own airport was bombed and boasted of its so-called 99 percent success rate; the US military, which helped Israel intercept missiles, did not mention the interception rate of the "Patriot" system and fell silent; and even India, which claims to be "the third military power in the world," has begun to reflect on itself. It can be said that Iran's "missile rain" has completely woken up the three military powers.
The reason for India's reflection is obviously to take into account the current tension on the China-Pakistan border. Former Indian Air Marshal Anil Chopra recently published an article to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the Indian army's ability to respond to air strikes. In his opinion, in the face of an air assault with ballistic missiles as the main force, it is difficult for India's air defense capability to be foolproof. In addition to the self-developed "Akash", the air defense systems it is equipped with are mainly the "Barak-8" and Russian-made S-400 imported from Israel. At the same time, the long-range tracking radars of the Indian army's air defense and anti-missile systems are also all deployed on the central axis of India's territory. This also means that once an air raid comes from the border and other directions, it will be difficult for the Indian army to respond immediately. In particular, the Sino-Indian border is only 400 kilometers away from New Delhi, the capital of India. Judging from the long-range strike methods mastered by the PLA, even if the "Dongfeng" series and a large number of UAVs are not used, even the rocket artillery of the long-range fire unit can condescend and carry out saturation strikes against the weak air defense system of the Indian army.
Speaking of the United States and Israel, although Iran's missile attack is not very lethal, it has brought a lot of shock. In particular, several hypersonic missiles launched by Iran completely made the United States and Israel defenseless, resulting in a precise hit on the Israeli Air Force F-35 base. Just imagine, if Iran had launched not a few, but dozens or hundreds, would Israel and the United States still be able to make up a lie? This was still an air raid launched under the premise of early warning from Iran; a few years ago, the Houthi rebels, the "slipper army," launched a surprise attack, using more than a dozen low-cost drones to break through the US military's "Patriot" and carry out long-range strikes on Saudi Arabia's Aramco oil refinery. It can be said that under the attack of saturation missiles, drones, and rockets, even the air defense systems of the United States and Israel still have too many loopholes.
It can be seen from a series of examples of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that in order to ensure that air defense and anti-missile operations are foolproof, it is necessary to use air and firepower superiority to achieve a quick victory and wipe out the enemy's air force and missile units. Take the Russian-Ukrainian war as an example, which lasted for more than two years, and the Russian army still did not completely take Ukraine, which was supported by the West, but there are also problems with the tactics of the Russian army. In terms of the strength of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the number of its fighters exceeds 1,200, while all the aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force combined are only two or three hundred, and most of them are antiques. However, the Russian army has not destroyed the air and long-range strike forces of the Ukrainian army from beginning to end, and the Ukrainian army can still use drones and missiles to continue to counterattack the Russian army.
Of course, although the "missile rain" attack mode is simple and efficient, and only China, the United States, and Russia have established a relatively complete strategic anti-missile system in the world, we still cannot be too superstitious about "missile washing." Because although we have the three trump cards of the Rocket Army, the Long-Range Fire Force, and the UAV Group, the potential opponent is also very strong in air defense operations. Taking Japan and South Korea as an example, with the help of the United States, they themselves have the "Patriot", "THAAD", and "Aegis" systems all over the place and a large number of anti-missile weapons. Coupled with the existence of the "mountain turtle shrinking" air defense tactic, it is difficult for the "missile to wash the ground" to achieve a fatal blow.
Therefore, in the future, we must increase investment in two aspects of national defense construction. The first is to build a large-scale, powerful long-range strike firepower, with a focus on large strategic bombers. Second, it is necessary to vigorously develop the amphibious expeditionary landing fleet. After all, after taking control of the air power, only by penetrating directly into the enemy's hinterland and finally letting the army appear to clean up the mess can the war be resolved once and for all.