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What weapons have Israel and Iran been using against each other?

19th June 2025 - 10:01 GMT | by Flavia Camargos Pereira in Kansas City, Missouri

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An Iranian drone being intercepted by Israeli forces. (Photo: Israeli Air Force)

Tehran has been relying on UAVs and ballistic missiles while Jerusalem uses jets, deep fires and precision-guided munitions.

While Israel has been deploying its fleet of advanced fighter jets alongside precision-guided munitions to target Iranian nuclear facilities, critical infrastructure and military leadership, Tehran has been answering the offensive with drones and ballistic missiles.

“From a military point of view, it looks more promising for Israel, and it has now achieved almost complete air supremacy,” Daniel Byman, director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats and Terrorism Programme within the US-based think CSIS, stated during a webinar held earlier this week.

Due to the distance between the two counties – more than 2,308km – Jerusalem has been relaying on F-35I Adir and F-15I Ra’am (Thunder) aircraft.

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The F-35I is an F-35A Lightning II variant customised to meet the requirements of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Compared to the standard version, the Adir is fitted with dedicated indigenous EW suite and avionics.

Shephard Defence Insight noted that other notable differences include an Israeli Air Force-tailored helmet-mounted display from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and a bespoke data link functionality.

Jerusalem ordered a total of 50 fighters between 2010 and 2017, with scheduled deliveries to be completed by 2024. In the case of the F-15I, it has common features with the F-15E Strike Eagle but is equipped with the Israeli-manufactured Elisra SPS-2110 and a DASH helmet-mounted sight system.

This jet is also armed with a 20mm gun, four AIM-9 and four AIM-120 AMRAAMs or eight AIM-120 AMRAAMs in addition to ATS weapons.

“If you look at the immediate results in Iran, Israel appears to have hit some of Iran’s nuclear sites, but certainly not all, and it has done significant damage,” Byman noted.

Air-launched rounds have also been deployed in the offensive. The Rampage long-range, air-to-ground missile, for example, was reported by media in the Middle East to be have been used. It is an air-launched variant of the EXTRA artillery rocket developed by IMI (now a subsidiary of Elbit Systems).

According to Shephard Defence Insight, Rampage provides a range comparable to cruise missiles but at a lower cost, making it a cost-effective solution for precision airstrikes.

“Israel demonstrated its full penetration of Iran and ability to wreak havoc across the Iranian system,” asserted Daniel B Shapiro, Distinguished Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative and former US ambassador to Israel.

Natanz Nuclear Facility, one of the most important in Iran, was among Israel’s targets and had its centrifuges destroyed. Meanwhile, Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant was not reported to suffer damage. This critical nuclear location was built inside a mountain near the city of Qom, 140km south of Tehran.

An Israeli F-35I Adir. (Photo: Israeli Air Force)

As both facilities, as well as other Iranian nuclear laboratories, have subterranean installations, the use of bunker-buster munitions could prove crucial in Israeli ambitions. Israel has deployed the RTX Raytheon Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) which was developed for hit hard and deeply buried targets.

This laser-guided munition has a 630lb (285kg) warhead and features a GPS/INS capability. It has been designed to penetrate more than 30m of earth or 6m of solid concrete.

What weapons has Iran been using to target Israel?

Shapiro claimed that “Iran has never looked weaker, and its ability to respond meaningfully will be tested”.

Medium-range ballistic missiles and drones have been part of Tehran’s response. The country has been using variants of the Shabab-3 medium-range, liquid-fuelled, road-mobile ballistic missile.

Produced by the national supplier Aerospace Industries Organisation (AIO), Emad and Ghadr-1 versions provide an estimated range of nearly 1,300km.

The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence has estimated that Iran had nearly 3,000 ballistic missiles in its inventory before the Israeli attacks.

“Iran has tried to launch very large salvos at Israel, and that is difficult in part due to the command disruption, but also it appears that as Iran tries to take missiles from storage to launch, Israel is disrupting that process,” Byman said.

Swarms of Tehran drones included multiple attack UAVs manufactured by Shahed Aviation Industries. Some of the versions spotted are the Shahed 129 and Shahed 136. Both models have been in service with the Russian Armed Forces and have been used in Ukraine.

The Shahed-136 has a delta-wing configuration with the fuselage blended into the wing. It is launched through a Rocket-Assisted Take-off (RATO) method and its range is nearly 2,500km.

It can be fitted with three types of payload: anti-personnel and armoured vehicle, anti-fortification and radar seeker. These warheads can weigh between 30kg and 50kg.

USAF airmen perform preload checks on a GBU-28. (Photo: US Air Force)

The Shahed 129 is a dual-role platform used for ISR and offensive missions. Each of its hardpoints holds a twin-rail launcher capable of carrying up to two Sadid-1 missiles.

What further implications could Israel’s attacks have?

Shalom Lipner, Jerusalem-based non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative and a former advisor to seven Israeli prime ministers, explained that Jerusalem appears to have authorised the operation after concluding that Theran “was on the threshold of a dangerous breakthrough in its efforts to acquire a nuclear weapons capability”.

The reaction of the international community regarding the Israeli offensive, however, could affect the future of other disputes across the globe, potentially setting the stage for other countries to justify attacks based on adversaries’ advancements in nuclear programmes.

Doreen Horschig, Fellow of the Project on Nuclear Issues within CSIS, commented that “we haven’t seen that type of aggressive preventative actions from any other country”, and that it “sends a message to other states proliferating”.

In Horschig’s opinion, it “delegitimises” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and international laws, treaties and agreements.

Another possibility could be the escalation of the conflict with the involvement of additional international actors.

William F Wechsler, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programmes and former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for special operations and combatting terrorism, highlighted that “Iran’s reaction likely will include both direct attacks on Israel and retaliation via its remaining proxy groups”.

Meanwhile, Mona Yacoubian, senior adviser and director of the CSIS Middle East Programme, said a “number of Iran’s proxies have taken a huge hit over the past many, many months by Israel”, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, “but the Houthis remain a capable proxy that has not shown any reticence to join the fight”.

Additionally, there remain Iranian-backed militias in Iraq “that retain lots of capability, especially if the US should get involved”, Yacoubian noted.

Shahed-136

Shahed-129

Shabab-3

Flavia Camargos Pereira

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Flavia Camargos Pereira


Flavia Camargos Pereira is a North America editor at Shephard Media. She joined the company …

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