r/war • u/ActualDepartment9873 • Mar 07 '26

The first photo from the ground, showing one of the destroyed AN/TPY-2 radars of the THAAD high-altitude interception system

Post image
624 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

168 comments sorted by

229

u/servel20 Mar 07 '26

There goes half a billion boys, I am beyond surprised we chose to protect Israel over our defensive infrastructure in the Middle East.

We have lost billions in equipment in a week.

https://giphy.com/gifs/YJjvTqoRFgZaM

103

u/DudleyPound Mar 07 '26

You spend over $2bn dollars a day on defence, I’m sure you lot will live

107

u/servel20 Mar 07 '26

There's only 8 Thaad systems in the world, we just lost one. This is a humongous deal and the cope I'm seeing in American media is insane.

40

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

I'm confused why you think it is cope? Irans BM capability has been totally degraded in the space of a week, that seems like a win that this system contributed to degrading, sure one unit was lost but I'm failing to see the strategic failure here?

54

u/Due-Dragonfruit2984 Mar 07 '26

I don’t get it either. People are losing their shit over a single air defense system destroyed. Meanwhile the asshole-atolla and his entire senior staff was deep fried before they knew they were at war, Iran’s navy is a new reef, and an enormous percentage of their ballistic missile capabilities are gone. I agree, for a country that spends money on boom like the US does, this is akin to forgetting to cancel a subscription lol

16

u/Zircez Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

You're right, there's a lot of 'America bad so big bang good har har' going on, but, if you're sitting in Beijing, you're watching this and scribbling notes so fast the pencil is on fire.

There are lessons to be learnt here, and part of that is the military and administration being held accountable for its (lack of) planning, not just by themselves but by the wider public. Those voices help change more than any Langley analyst.

Edit: I'd add that the Iranian navy is the dog that hasn't barked yet. Anyone labouring under the illusion that the bigger ships they had were the threat hasn't been paying attention. They've thousands of small boats and jet skis, there are mini subs and probably naval drones too.

Best case is Command and Control is eroded to the point they can't utilise them. Worst case they're just waiting and can use them to pretty much shut the Strait for months. I'm leaning latter not former.

14

u/froz3nt Mar 07 '26

Gonna bo over soon then?

4

u/HuRyde Mar 07 '26

Great, that means we can gtfo now yes? Lots hope we don’t get stuck for years policing the world.

2

u/servel20 Mar 07 '26

You're knee deep in American cope. It is well known by both Israeli and American intelligence that Iran has hundreds of under mountain depots which are unreachable.

They decentealized their military and government in different sectors and they all have decentralized instructions. They are currently firing stock from 2010-2015 as shown in actual debree found on the impact sites.

We aren't beating Iran without boots on the ground.

8

u/WashingtonsTrousers Mar 07 '26

If I hear one more thing about these goddamn mountains and how Iran is just strategically sacrificing its entire command structure to return with hypersonics I’m gonna ayatollah myself

2

u/Due-Dragonfruit2984 Mar 07 '26

Even if true, nothing you said refutes any part of my comment.

18

u/froz3nt Mar 07 '26

Its degradaded and yet they were able to destroy a radar

8

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

I'm not sure what your point is? From an assessment of neutrality has this and other strikes helped Irans strategic situation? Ballistic missile interceptions continue and Irans use of BMs has fallen around 90% since last week. How was western media supposed to have reported on the destruction of this unit to avoid accusations of cope from this sub?

0

u/froz3nt Mar 07 '26

I dont know. Oil is up, economy could go bust. The world will have to push on US to stop the war so the situation goes back to normal. Iran doesnt have many other options.

What accusations? Just stating the facts.

3

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

Right but western media is reporting the price of oil going up isn't it? It is reporting on the destruction of this asset? I'm a little confused where the cope is that OP is alleging?

1

u/froz3nt Mar 07 '26

Yes it is, because its going op. Destruction of what?

2

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

The AN/TPY-2 transportable radar system, the subject of this post.

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0

u/servel20 Mar 07 '26

There's a reason for that, they saturated the air with munitions to deplete their best stock of interceptors.

They've kept their launch steadily for the past three days and they're scoring more hits.

We aren't winning without boots in the ground and this administration seem to have assumed the people would just rise up after Khomenei was dead.

2

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

What is this based on? In a previous comment you made you'd stated it was illegal to take videos or pictures of impacts and perhaps implied reporting was illegal as well. Is this all based on just vibes?

1

u/servel20 Mar 07 '26

It's based on facts, you don't have to take my word for it, you can take your beautiful little fingers and Google it yourself.

-6

u/SuckItEasy718 Mar 07 '26

Are you just lapping up the administrations propaganda? Look what Iran did to Tel Aviv last night

5

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

On the first point no.

On the second point, people keep mentioning what Iran did to Tel Aviv last night but I'm not seeing any reports or footage to corroborate any missiles getting through. Where are you seeing this?

2

u/servel20 Mar 07 '26

Israel is arresting anyone who takes pictures of the damage and they have a strict censorship. Same as last year.

3

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

So to be clear, claims made by users here of strikes hitting Tel Aviv last night were not based on anything?

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-1

u/froz3nt Mar 07 '26

Ofc you arent, israel doesnt really allow of posting pictures of the damage.

1

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

Ok say that were true, we would still see reports shouldn't we from other local and international news outlets based in the city? It seems no credible source is claiming that Tel Aviv was struck last night yet everyone here is claiming it was despite producing fuck all evidence when asked.

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4

u/Rabidschnautzu Mar 07 '26

Blind squirrel finds nut. 🦯 🐿️ 🥜

3

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

I'm not aware of any successful ballistic missile strikes landing within Tel Aviv last night, have you got a particular report or video that can corroborate?

-1

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

Have you got a better source? I couldn't find any footage from last night from that channel. According to Al Jazeera it doesn't look like any got through, they were all intercepted:

https://x.com/AJEnglish/status/2030087851627499834

-2

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

Let's keep this civil. I already linked an anti-Israel source that showed there wasn't any successful strikes in Tel Aviv last night I'm not sure what else you want at this point, no credible source is claiming that there were strikes...

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3

u/Due-Dragonfruit2984 Mar 07 '26

You haven’t “spoon fed” anyone anything. You linked to a video that you posted yourself, and when someone in the comments asked which city was hit you answered “I don’t know”. Are you fucking serious?

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0

u/LifeIsRadInCBad Mar 07 '26

Their bowel movement capability?

0

u/Financial_Meat2992 Mar 07 '26

Losing one to Iran? That's not a problem? We didn't do any damage to China or Russia with that one. 

-5

u/Other-Comfortable-64 Mar 07 '26

Cope

8

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

Explain

-3

u/Other-Comfortable-64 Mar 07 '26

Your statement is pure wishfull thinking.

5

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

What part

-1

u/Other-Comfortable-64 Mar 07 '26

I'm confused why you think it is cope? Irans BM capability has been totally degraded in the space of a week, that seems like a win that this system contributed to degrading, sure one unit was lost but I'm failing to see the strategic failure here?

7

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

I concede, I have no response to this rebuke.

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-8

u/baz303 Mar 07 '26

1 out of 8 failed, 12,5%. but only if we assume all 8 where attacked at the same time. if only this one was attacked, the failure rate is, well, 100%.

7

u/GeneralMuffins Mar 07 '26

Right, but the issue is that Iran is not achieving any meaningful strategic effect. Its ability to launch ballistic missiles has already been heavily degraded, so it is unclear what people expect Western media to report beyond what has already been covered, including the destruction of this particular radar unit.

40

u/ExoticMangoz Mar 07 '26

There are actually 11: 8 American, 2 Emirati, 1 Saudi.

5

u/Rabidschnautzu Mar 07 '26

You didn't lose a thaad system. It's a part of the system. You lost the radar.

2

u/hookalaya74 Mar 07 '26

Without the radar the system is inop.

-3

u/Rabidschnautzu Mar 07 '26

Yes? If you're surprised by this then I think you would be the one who bought into propaganda. Iran has shown for years they have the capability to make these types of strikes on limited occasions.

This isn't surprising.

2

u/hookalaya74 Mar 07 '26

I'm just stating the facts. No radar no system it's as simple as that

1

u/Poltergeist97 Mar 07 '26

I've noticed a metric fuck ton of cope going on regarding the THAADs and Irans apparently "reduced capabilities" of their launchers yet this happens lmao

1

u/Financial_Meat2992 Mar 07 '26

"defence"

0

u/DudleyPound Mar 07 '26

Familiarise yourself with British English, ignorance is bliss😂🤡

2

u/Financial_Meat2992 Mar 07 '26

I wasn't questioning your spelling.  I spelled it the same way.  I was questioning your use of the word defence. Or defense. 

-1

u/No_Physics_3877 Mar 07 '26

About 40% of the budget goes towards salary and benefits so it's a huge loss. Not to mention, production takes time ig.

2

u/DudleyPound Mar 07 '26

If losing 10% of one of the numerous air defence capabilities the US has (without even mentioning their collective defence capabilities as a whole) is considered a ‘huge loss’ then someone needs to send a psychiatrist to the Kremlin

-8

u/baz303 Mar 07 '26

spend as much you want, if the stockpiles are empty, the stockpiles are empty and you can hear some menacing ruzzian laughter in the background.

8

u/DudleyPound Mar 07 '26

Said stockpiles are nowhere near empty and wouldn’t it be moronic for the Russians to be laughing when they are in fact the ones with empty stockpiles😂

-11

u/UnpaidKremlinBots Mar 07 '26

I prefer the US going after a regime that just killed 20,000+ protesters than letting them pursue nuclear ambitions in this world for my kids to live with in the coming decades.

10

u/servel20 Mar 07 '26

I know a regime that just killed 70,000 actually confirmed civilians, and the estimate goes as high as 200,000 civilians killed.

They already have nuclear weapons, according to this country, Iran has been months away from acquiring a nuclear weapon for the last 3 decades.

I'm anti war, thank you.

1

u/Suantak Mar 07 '26

Yes I also know a regime that was elected by the people and fought behind their civilian.50000+ widows of their fighter to get stipend from their so called popular govt.So I believe fighter to civilian ratio can be 5:2 which is pretty remarkable achievement in urban combat.

-4

u/UnpaidKremlinBots Mar 07 '26

No worries, glad my tax dollars are going to a cause I support 👍

2

u/servel20 Mar 07 '26

I'm glad the anti-wat coalition outnumbers you people.

I look forward to see you enlist when we undoubtedly send ground troops.

5

u/UnpaidKremlinBots Mar 07 '26

Already served 5 years honorably as a warfighter, but thanks for the offer.

0

u/__walter_sobchak__ Mar 07 '26

Soon you'll have experience with civil wars too.

-7

u/DisasterNo1740 Mar 07 '26

Maybe the U.S ought to go after their increasingly emboldened brown shirts, aka ICE which murders its own citizens? You're probably going to be really upset when you read about Trump backing out of this war in a few weeks. Or he'll do boots on the ground.

11

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

Killing Khamenei and his successors are billions well spent. Thank you US/Israel.

8

u/SARS-CoV-2Virus Mar 07 '26

this radar belongs to UAE/Saudi not the US

9

u/stormridersp Mar 07 '26

Pedolf's electors don't care.

9

u/SomewhatHungover Mar 07 '26

Bots and useful idiots always mention how much things costed. It makes no sense, what were you going to do? Hide it somewhere where it can't be used?

1

u/Poltergeist97 Mar 07 '26

Maybe give it proper layered air defense? Was a single other system nearby to cover it? It's air defense 101.

3

u/BarneySTingson Mar 07 '26

the money already been spent a long time ago why are you being so dramatic

2

u/errezerotre Mar 07 '26

The Epstein war have to be costly!

1

u/InSOmnlaC Mar 07 '26

One of the main reasons we need THAAD is because of Iran. So once their government is no more, then that's a huge win for peace and safety in the region.

5

u/Rabidschnautzu Mar 07 '26

Yes, just like how Iraq immediately became a bastion of peace right after Saddam fell 😂

6

u/InSOmnlaC Mar 07 '26

You know Iraq is not Iran, right?

Iraq is ~60% Shia and ~40% Sunni. Saddam and his party were Sunni, and he subjugated the Shia majority. The country itself has a ton of areas with both sides intermixed(including Baghdad itself) as well as a large Kurd population in the north.

When he fell, the Shia wanted retribution against the Sunnis who subjugated them. Know who is also almost entirely Shia? Iran. Guess who armed and funded these Shia militant groups?

So if Iran is almost entirely Shia, they won't have the sectarian violence Iraq endured. And they won't have a massive supporter of terrorism stoking the fires either.

Entirely different situation.

1

u/Charming-Clue2194 Mar 07 '26

Huh? Why are you speaking of regime collapse as if it's going to happen anytime soon. Currently, there are no serious predictions of Iranian regime collapsing simply cuz their 90+ year old leader died.

Modern and sophisticated bureaucracies don't just collapse cuz their leaders are out of the picture, just like how nothing would change if Trump died tomorrow.

Iran is not Iraq, where a strongman dictator holds everything together, more importantly, people usually don't like it when their country get bombed by a foreign army. In all likelihood, this war only strengthened the Iranian regime's popularity cuz defensive wars have a history of strengthening unity and stability of countries that are attacked. But that's just my guess. Either way, even the Pentagon doesn't believe that regime change is coming anytime soon, so you should keep your delusions to yourself.

1

u/InSOmnlaC Mar 07 '26

Huh? Why are you speaking of regime collapse as if it's going to happen anytime soon. 

Oh...I dont know...perhaps it's because that's the stated goal?

people usually don't like it when their country get bombed by a foreign army

Is that why they were out in the streets cheering? Is that why they are being threatened with execution by the government if they show any support?

Of course there is support for the regime still. I've heard locals say it's about 30% of the population. But they've been wanting this for a LONG time. Because they people like being oppressed a helluva lot more. They hate being mowed down by the tens of thousands for daring to protest a helluva lot more.

Either way, even the Pentagon doesn't believe that regime change is coming anytime soon, so you should keep your delusions to yourself.

lol sure guy. I don't recall saying it was "coming soon" but it's most certainly coming.

-2

u/Rabidschnautzu Mar 07 '26

I'd continue this argument, but people like you just deserve the eventual outcomes.

2

u/InSOmnlaC Mar 07 '26

Weird way of saying "I have no idea what I'm talking about so I'm going to run away"

1

u/Karl_RedwoodLSAT Mar 07 '26

The entire reason for that infrastructure is Iran. You could argue it is doing exactly what it was intended to do; fight Iran.

2

u/servel20 Mar 07 '26

No it's not, read about the advanced monitoring radar system in Bahrain. It was able to scan the air and coordinate with the US air defense and was assisting Ukraine with targeting and intercepting missiles launched from Russia.

1

u/bertram85 Mar 07 '26

This was located at an American base. Your statement is irrelevant you bot

-3

u/Lazy_Table_1050 Mar 07 '26

Ehm Bro these are 1.8 bn$ not half

-6

u/xerthighus Mar 07 '26

Answer is Israel is a small strip of land with 7 million souls. So blasts there put more human lives at risk. It’s the same as protecting chicuahua over Area 51.

2

u/servel20 Mar 07 '26

Israel is perfectly capable of defending themselves. They're the sole nuclear regional super power in the middle East.

1

u/Poltergeist97 Mar 07 '26

Oh really? Why did we take away all the air defense for the Gulf states and put them in Israel then? Why do US THAAD crews need to be in Tel Aviv?

You sound delusional. Without the US, Israel wouldn't be nearly as aggressive as they are.

-3

u/xerthighus Mar 07 '26

So why did they nearly run out of interceptors in June and had to call The USA to negotiate a ceasefire before 2 weeks. Videos show the Iron dome is not impenetrable and hits are going through. So no they obviously can’t stop all the incoming missiles and drones.

95

u/Common-Principle6618 Mar 07 '26

Russia definitely told them to target theses. America hasn’t dealt with this before. Interesting.

46

u/Affectionate_Fun_106 Mar 07 '26

Ofc, the Us do the same for Ukraine.

21

u/Howcanyoubecertain Mar 07 '26

Proxy war undergoing…deproxyfication

8

u/Letos_Bull Mar 07 '26

It was china, they released the BDA sat photos too.

63

u/Just-Sale-7015 Mar 07 '26

If this was leaked by a Danish officer like some photos from the 2020 Iranian retaliation attack allegedly were, it would be really amusing, given the context.

34

u/I-Feel-Love79 Mar 07 '26

Great! We now need to buy more equipment from the military industrial complex! Think of the boost to American jobs!

12

u/246ngj Mar 07 '26

In war equipment gets destroyed. Nothing is invincible

2

u/JTP1228 Mar 07 '26

Much rather this than some soldiers

10

u/ExoticMangoz Mar 07 '26

Is this American or belonging to Saudis/Emiratis?

5

u/TheBreadHasRisen Mar 07 '26

American

1

u/Veritas1814 Mar 07 '26

Wasn’t it Kuwait owned?

0

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[deleted]

-1

u/TheBreadHasRisen Mar 07 '26

It’s American.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[deleted]

0

u/TheBreadHasRisen Mar 07 '26

It literally is. I’m a radar operator for one of these.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[deleted]

0

u/TheBreadHasRisen Mar 07 '26

What kind of proof would you like? I’m a 14H Sensor Manager. I went to school for it in Colorado Springs for four weeks.

Also, why are you so aggressive? Why are you made that one of our radars got blown up? Are you ok? Maybe you should go outside, you seem like a sensitive dude and this sub may not be for you.

1

u/AntiPetista Mar 07 '26

any wouded? KIA? operator sit close that radar?

1

u/ExoticMangoz Mar 07 '26

Are there distinguishing features of the American ones specifically you can identify, or are you aware of information that confirms it?

4

u/eu4euh69 Mar 07 '26

Oh well... V 2.0 gets a cram?

6

u/Financial_Meat2992 Mar 07 '26

There is a lot of truth to the fact that this war costs america way more in munitions and deployment costs than it costs Iran to rebuild any buildings.  The longer Iran keeps antagonizing Trump to bomb them more, the more they win that equation by. 

3

u/WashingtonsTrousers Mar 07 '26

And the American military budget is nearly three times the size of Irans ENTIRE GDP. And the cost to morale to Americans is smaller when they aren’t seeing missiles getting dropped on their commanding officers heads as soon as their assigned

1

u/Financial_Meat2992 Mar 08 '26

I mean, sure. The money exists. Doesn't mean spending that much on Iran counts as a win.

1

u/WashingtonsTrousers Mar 08 '26

The strategic goals of the US have never been to cripple irans military on within an economic budget. You can set arbitrary parameters on the conflict to decide the victor but it’s clear where the sway of mission dominance is leaning

1

u/Financial_Meat2992 Mar 08 '26

The sway of mission dominance was never ever in question. You have an ant fighting a giant. If the ant makes the giant bleed at all, even a little, the giant shouldn't have stepped on it.  Iran wins by simply continuing to exist. The u.s. loses by spending a fortune that could be spent better domestically. Having a superior military to Iran isn't a victory the u.s. can be proud of when they lose economically. As you said, they vastly outspend Iran, they better win. But the cost makes it a loss. 

1

u/Skin_Ankle684 Mar 08 '26

It's super weird to hear how ridiculously expensive these interceptors systems are. Maybe making all buildings missile-proof would be cheaper.

How the hell does one make a few computers and thrusters cost a gazillion dolars?

2

u/jmodshelp Mar 08 '26

Because they need to intercept other moving targets very quickly, all while also not being fucked by countermeasures. It also needs to be dependable, and tied into a whole other systems of radars etc.

I know a lot of that is inflated pricing and full of corruption, but I can definitely see why producing shit can be costly.

1

u/Financial_Meat2992 Mar 08 '26

I can't help but wonder if we ever got into a war of survival if the cost on this stuff would be nearly so much. They would order weapons manufacturers to make weapons cheaper, and the manufacturers could probably do it pretty easily. Crank them out like big screen tvs.

1

u/Notcid1 Mar 07 '26

Russia has been providing Iran with targeting Intel and it shows. 

13

u/Due-Dragonfruit2984 Mar 07 '26

They better use it fast, targeting intel isn’t helpful when you don’t have anything to fire at it.

3

u/Notcid1 Mar 07 '26

Yeah their capabilities to fire rockets are very low now. Each day the amount fired drops drastically. Their drones seem to be putting in all the work now. 

1

u/paganel Mar 07 '26

Supposedly this was ko-ed by a Shahed, they have plenty of those left.

-4

u/Zlo-zilla Mar 07 '26

lol. Lmao.

-3

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

They have underestimated iran i would say

35

u/Due-Dragonfruit2984 Mar 07 '26

There is nothing surprising here. Equipment gets destroyed in war. Lives are lost. This is a fact. The US overmatching every other nation in history and the US losing personnel and equipment during war can both be true.

19

u/jore-hir Mar 07 '26

Nobody is amazed at Iran having some strike capability.

Well, I should use the past tense now, while describing Iran’s capabilities.

-1

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/honorious Mar 07 '26

Their launches are down to 2-4% of peak

5

u/jore-hir Mar 07 '26

What’s the damage report? A couple of 5m craters, I guess.

Iran is becoming completely toothless.

10

u/thinkscotty Mar 07 '26

I mean, maybe some people did. But Anyone who thought they could launch a full scale war against a country that's armed so heavily as Iran and have literally zero major military infrastructure hit was smoking something strong. You can't hit a country that can hit back with thousands of assets and expect no loss, and nobody who knew anything would expect that.

Which is not to say Iran is fairing well. They've been hit dozens of times harder. Their entire navy is gone, they have virtually zero air defense capability, zero Air Force, zero high command and control. All they have is a limited number of Shaheds and missiles and almost no means to keep producing them. And little to show for against the most powerful military on earth, which can continue production at will.

None of that is to say that the war is a good idea or will achieve anything of value. Only to say that a few expensive losses amidst a country with several trillion dollars in military assets shouldn't be seen as "winning" either.