News - Yemen: Military expert Brigadier General Abdul Ghani Al-Zubaidi has confirmed that Yemeni ballistic missiles have damaged the reputation of the Zionist enemy’s air defense systems, pointing out that those systems have failed to intercept the Yemeni missiles effectively. This raises serious questions about the value of exporting such systems to other countries.

Al-Zubaidi explained that the repeated Zionist claims of intercepting Yemeni missiles do not reflect the reality on the ground. He cited previous examples, such as the 1990 Gulf War, when US forces claimed to have intercepted 37 Scud missiles, only for it to later emerge that over 32 of them had accurately hit their targets.

He noted that the enemy often delays acknowledging that missiles have reached their targets as also happened with the Iranian strikes — despite leaked images proving their destructive impact, contrary to the enemy’s media downplay.

Al-Zubaidi pointed out that the Zionist entity's air defense systems including the Arrow (Hetz) system, considered the backbone of its defense against long-range ballistic missiles — have failed to effectively counter the Yemeni missiles.

He confirmed that the attacks have exposed a significant depletion in the enemy’s stockpile of interceptor missiles, at a time when the entity is facing major challenges in replenishing the growing shortage.

He added that "Israel" has been forced to use all its defense systems — Arrow, David’s Sling, and Iron Dome — across different layers, which confirms that none of these systems is capable of effectively dealing with the advanced Yemeni missiles.

Al-Zubaidi noted that each Yemeni missile requires the launch of up to three interceptors, creating an added burden on the enemy’s air defense arsenal.

He also addressed the impact of the precision strikes carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Zionist entity, stating that they significantly affected the production and technical capabilities of the enemy’s air defense systems.

He pointed out that manufacturing a new defensive system like the Iron Dome takes three to four months and comes at a high cost — making it difficult for the enemy to keep up with the increasing pace of Yemeni military strikes.

He concluded by saying: “The missile battle today is being won by the Yemeni Armed Forces, who are achieving their goals with remarkable results, exposing the falsehood of the Zionist claims about the effectiveness of their defense systems.”

Al-Zubaidi predicted that the Israeli enemy would be forced to seek new defensive options, given the rapid technological advancement of Yemeni missiles, which have now reached speeds two to three times greater than those the enemy’s systems were designed to handle — rendering them ineffective in the face of this unexpected shift on the battlefield.

The ongoing Israeli aggression in the region has intensified in recent months. As part of its defense strategy, the Israeli enemy has relied heavily on advanced US-supplied missile defense systems, including the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, designed to intercept ballistic missiles in their terminal phase.

Yemen has increasingly targeted Israeli positions with long-range missile and drone attacks, especially in response to the war on Gaza and regional Israeli aggressions. These attacks have tested the effectiveness of American missile defense systems deployed in the region.

The United States, which maintains several THAAD batteries globally, deployed part of its arsenal to bolster Israeli defenses. However, the system has faced operational challenges, with multiple reported failures to intercept incoming Yemeni missiles.