Iran destroys $300M US missile defence radar in Jordan: Bloomberg

Iran has destroyed a $300M radar system vital for directing US missile defence in the Gulf, Bloomberg reported citing a US official.

Analysts state that the damage creates a significant gap in high-altitude surveillance coverage.

Satellite photos show that an RTX Corp. AN/TPY-2 radar and support equipment — used by US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems — was destroyed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan in the opening days of the war, CNN reported, citing commercial satellite imagery.

The destruction of the equipment was later confirmed by a US official.

According to data gathered by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) show two reported Iranian strikes in Jordan: one on Feb 28 and one on March 3.

Both were initially reported to have been intercepted.

US THAAD units intercept ballistic missiles at the atmosphere’s edge, tackling tougher threats than Patriot batteries.

Earlier in the US-Israel war, an AN/FPS-132 radar in Qatar—a fixed installation, unlike the mobile THAAD system—was damaged during an Iranian attack.

The destruction of the Jordan-based TPY-2, combined with the damage in Qatar and reported hits on SATCOM terminals in Bahrain, suggests a systemic Iranian effort to dismantle the sensors that form the “eyes” of the US defensive umbrella in Gulf.