{"id":1237,"date":"2026-02-28T15:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/?p=1237"},"modified":"2026-02-28T15:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:50:11","slug":"iran-missile-strikes-at-us-base-in-qatar-a-simple-task-for-air-defences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/?p=1237","title":{"rendered":"Iran missile strikes at US base in Qatar a ‘simple task’ for air defences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All of a sudden, there were loud booms and the windows started shaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mehran Kamrava, a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar’s capital, Doha, knew what he was supposed to do, but did the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Which was rush outside and look up in the sky,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I saw these flying lights, and the night sky was not like anything I had seen before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

retaliated against the US bombing three critical nuclear sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran said it was aiming for Al Udeid, the largest US military air base in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Udeid Air Base hosts the US Central Command headquarters and is home to more than 11,000 US and Coalition service members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is spread across 24 hectares in the desert, just outside Qatar’s capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The base is close enough for Doha residents to witness the flashes in the sky, as the country’s air defences intercepted the wave of ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I live about 30km (from the base) … So, it’s not that far,” Professor Kamrava told ABC Radio National.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran’s National Security Council said it targeted the base “in response to the US aggressive and insolent\u00a0action against Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its statement, the council said 14 missiles were launched, “the same as the number of bombs that the US had used”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A US defence official said no one was hurt in the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran gave advance notice to the US and Qatari authorities hours ahead of the strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qatar, which lies 190km south of Iran, said its “air defences successfully intercepted the missile attack”.Play video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has Video Duration: 1 minute 4 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch 1m 4s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump wrote that 13 missiles were intercepted and one missile was “set free” because it was not deemed a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US officials said medium-range ballistic missiles were used in the strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were intercepted by US and Qatari Patriot air defence batteries, US Central Command said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bases in Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE are protected by the US-developed Patriot missile batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Patriot is a long-range missile defence system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each Patriot battery consists of a truck-mounted launching system, a ground radar, a control station and a generator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have eight launchers that can typically hold up to four missile interceptors each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The portable batteries can protect an area of up to 100km, and are commonly used to defend military sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dougal Robertson from defence firm Felix Advisory, who is a former intelligence officer for the Royal Australian Air Force, said Patriots were made to take out missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of missiles launched by Iran would have been “pretty easy” for the system to defend against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In this instance, it was a really relatively simple task for the Patriot,” he told the ABC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Because of the low number of weapons, even if there had been no notice, the US would’ve been able to detect them quite quickly.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

System made to ‘hit to kill’ ballistic missiles <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before Israel launched Operation Rising Lion,\u00a0Iran was believed to have the largest and most diverse ballistic missile\u00a0stockpile in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel said the goal of its strikes on Iran was to dismantle the country’s nuclear program and ballistic missile stockpile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ballistic missiles travel at high speeds, soaring to high altitudes before taking a deep and fast dive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This trajectory \u2014 going beyond the atmosphere before plummeting down to Earth \u2014 can make the missiles particularly difficult to intercept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Videos circulating online appear to show the remains of a Patriot PAC-3 missile following the defence against the Iranian attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Robertson said the Patriot PAC-3 was an advanced capability missile with greater guidance accuracy to directly hit ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It uses a “hit to kill intercept”, striking the target at high altitudes and destroying it with kinetic energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Generally, ballistic missiles are coming in at several times the speed of sound \u2014 sometimes up to about mach five \u2014 so you don’t want to miss,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Being able to hit the target directly, it reduces the probability of missing the target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Generally, between two and three patriot missiles will be fired to ensure they hit a target.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qatar also has the US\u00a0Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The THAAD was specifically designed for ballistic missile defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bases prepared for attacks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

US bases in the region have been on high alert and taking precautions\u00a0since the conflict between Israel and Iran erupted on June 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And after the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites over the weekend, Tehran warned that American assets in the region were “legitimate targets”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US officials told Reuters that aircraft not in hardened shelters had been moved from Al Udeid base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And naval vessels had been moved from a port in Bahrain, where the military’s 5th fleet is located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Robertson said the US had an integrated system of defence across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Iran attempted further strikes on US bases, it would be put into action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It involves ships in the Persian Gulf. It involves airborne assets. It involves land-based radar,” he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So, they know where the threat is coming from, and roughly the direction.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All of a sudden, there were loud booms and the windows started shaking. Mehran Kamrava, a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar’s capital, Doha, knew what he was supposed to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1243,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1237\/revisions\/1243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.landingliker.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}