Iran Ramps Up Missile Production to Overwhelm Israeli Defenses in Potential New Conflict
- MM24 News Desk
- Nov 12
- 2 min read
Iranian officials claim the country now possesses a larger and more advanced missile arsenal than it did during the 12-Day War with Israel in June, with factories operating 24 hours a day to produce projectiles. The stated goal, according to experts, is to be able to fire a massive volley of 2,000 missiles at once to overwhelm Israeli air defenses, a significant escalation from the 500 launched over the course of the previous conflict.
This intensive production push comes amid growing international concern over Iran's nuclear program and fears of a renewed, wider war. “Our missile power today far surpasses that of the 12-Day War,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently proclaimed, framing the previous conflict as a defeat for Israel. Echoing this sentiment, Brig. Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, the country’s defense minister, stated that Iran’s defense production has improved “both in quantity and quality.”
The driving strategy behind this buildup was detailed to Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, by Iranian officials themselves, according to a New York Times report.
“They hope to fire 2,000 at once to overwhelm Israeli defenses, not 500 over 12 days,” Vaez explained. This shift in doctrine is a direct response to the perceived degradation of Israel's missile defenses during the last war and the belief that “Israel feels the job is unfinished and sees no reason not to resume the conflict.”
But it’s not just about raw numbers. Analysts note that Iran is also applying hard-won lessons from combat to improve the quality and effectiveness of its strikes. “The Islamic Republic also learned how to fire less and get more bang for your buck,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told The War Zone. He detailed that this involves refining targeting, launch locations, and firing sequences based on the experience of launching missiles from bases in eastern Iran during the June war.
This qualitative improvement is evident in the specific missile systems Iran is now highlighting. During the conflict, Iran claimed it deployed the Fattah-1 medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM), a weapon authorities explicitly tout for its high terminal maneuverability and speed.
These characteristics are specifically designed to reduce vulnerability to missile defense interceptors like Israel's Iron Dome and Arrow systems. Other missiles, such as the Haj Qassem and Kheibar Shekan, are also advertised with similar advanced penetration capabilities.
The combination of quantitative surge and qualitative refinement points to a clear and dangerous evolution in Iran's military posture. While the accuracy of Tehran's claims about the size of its arsenal may be questionable, the intent is not. The regime is actively preparing for a potential next round of conflict with a strategy focused on saturation.
By launching a massive, coordinated volley of harder-to-intercept missiles, Iran aims to punch through Israeli defenses in a way it could not during the 12-Day War. This escalating arms race ensures that any future confrontation would likely be far more destructive and devastating than the last.
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