Large-scale Iranian attack against Israel: How many drones and missiles were launched? What targets are hit?

In response to the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus on April 1 last year, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out an unprecedented military operation, demonstrating its phenomenal military power. The Iranian press reports the large-scale consequences of the night battle.

Preparing for attacks on Israel

The retaliatory strikes followed two weeks of strategic patience and careful planning, and their execution was said to be perfect, catching Izrpail and his Western allies by surprise.

Israeli strike on Iranian consulate

An Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus resulted in the deaths of Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, senior commander of the IRGC Quds Force, his deputy, General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, and five other military officers.

Following the attack, which violated international law and the Vienna Conventions, Iranian leaders vowed a strong response, invoking their right to self-defense.

The IRGC statement said:

“In response to numerous crimes of the Zionist regime, including the attack on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus and the death of a number of our commanders and military advisers in Syria, the IRGC Aerospace Division fired dozens of missiles and drones at specific targets in the occupied territories.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry, in a separate statement, warned of the consequences of new attacks on Iranian territory.

Operation True Promise, which was launched late Saturday night and continued into the early hours of Sunday, left Israel paralyzed.

This is how it all happened, first cyber attacks and then military strikes.

Cyberattacks on Israeli air defenses

Multiple drone and missile strikes preceded a series of cyber attacks on Israel's energy infrastructure and radar systems, leading to widespread power outages.

A major power outage was reported in several areas of Tel Aviv as a result of a large-scale cyber attack on energy infrastructure, media reported.

Drone attack on Israel

The Iranian hacker group Cyber ​​Av3ngers released a statement claiming responsibility for power outages in various parts of the occupied territories.

The group stressed that it carried out a cyber attack from south to north in response to the crimes of the “Zionist regime” against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Earlier that evening, it was reported that radar systems had been hacked, leading to the closure of airspace over the occupied territories.

Iranian hacker group Hanzaleh Bammad claimed responsibility, publishing images and saying their actions were in response to Israel's recent attack on the Iranian consulate.

However, despite such loud statements, it is known that Israeli air defense systems were actively working, which caused quite a lot of controversy.

Waves of drone strikes

At approximately 23:00 Iranian time, the IRGC's aerospace unit officially launched a military retaliatory operation against Israel, conducting at least four waves of drone strikes.

The first wave included an estimated 136 Shahed-100 kamikaze drones, which were also captured swarming by private camera in Iran and Iraq.

The Shahed-136 is a low-observability, low-signature delta-shaped drone capable of carrying a 50 kg warhead and having a range of 2000 km.

This type of UAV has previously been used to destroy terrorist headquarters in the northern region of Iraq, but this is the first time Iran has used it in large numbers and with a range of more than 1000 kilometers.

Drone attack on Israel

The Shahed-136 is powered by an Iranian piston engine and has a speed of about 200 km/h, meaning it required a flight of about five hours before impact.

Attacks on israel

The first wave was followed by three more waves of strikes about half an hour apart, and a total of 400 to 500 drones are believed to have been launched.

Attacks on israel

Salvos of cruise and ballistic missiles

The next step in the military response was the launch of cruise and ballistic missiles, which were reportedly accompanied by simultaneous drone and missile strikes from allies in Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

It has not yet been officially announced what types of missiles were involved in this successful operation, although at least some of the ballistic missiles were reported to be Kheibar Shekan.

"Kheibar Shekan" is a solid-fuel medium-range ballistic missile with a flight range of 1450 km and a one and a half ton warhead, characterized by high maneuverability during the final stage of flight.

Attacks on israel

There are also reports that Fattah hypersonic missiles were used, but this is difficult to assess based on the available night footage because their terminal velocity is similar to the latest ballistic missiles and it is also unclear how much they maneuvered.

Interception of Iranian hypersonic missile

Targets of attacks

Tehran has not announced the destinations, and although Israeli authorities have urged the public not to publish video footage of the Iranian strikes, dozens of them have been posted online.

As correctly stated in a previous analysis on the Press TV website, the main targets were Israeli military bases, from the Golan Heights to the Negev Desert.

Attacks on israel

Scott Ritter, an American military expert, said on Platform X (formerly known as Twitter) that at least seven hypersonic missiles hit Nevatim Air Base and none were intercepted. However, satellite images recorded only minor consequences (damage to the runway, a small building and a parking lot), which confirms Avia.pro’s data that all hypersonic missiles were shot down on approach.

Shot down Iranian missiles

This air base is located in the Negev Desert and is home to Israeli F-35 fighter jets, which were used in the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Several private videos taken from a distance show large-scale interceptions of missiles and drones.