A worker inspects the end of an Iranian missile that landed near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.Image: keystone
How many missiles does Iran still have in its arsenal? According to media reports, there are still many weapons in the tunnels – and damaged launch systems are being repaired surprisingly quickly.
Apr 05, 2026, 05:59Apr 05, 2026, 05:59
Thomas Wanhoff / t-online
The Iranian military appears to be able to quickly become operational again after American and Israeli attacks on missile sites. As the New York Times reports, citing intelligence sources, the missile silos are repaired immediately after a strike – sometimes within a few hours.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz had previously reported that Iran had used bulldozers to unearth rocket launchers that had been buried or “locked” in underground bunkers.
According to the information, Iran still has a significant number of missiles and rocket launchers. The Pentagon spoke of more than 12,000 attacks against Iran this week.
However, it is obviously questionable how great the actual damage caused by these blows is. According to information from the US newspaper, there are clear doubts in US intelligence circles as to whether Iran’s ability to attack has been significantly reduced.
Hegseth: Iran will shoot down missiles
Iran continues to have the ability to use its remaining arsenal of ballistic missiles and launch pads to attack Israel and other countries in the region, according to U.S. officials briefed on the intelligence.
The Pentagon was still confident at the beginning of the week. “Yes, they will continue to fire missiles, but we will shoot them down,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday. «It is noteworthy that the lowest number of enemy missiles and drones were fired by Iran in the last 24 hours. They will go into hiding, but we will find them.”
Pete Hegseth is convinced of the effectiveness of the US attacks.Image: keystone
“The facts are these: Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks have fallen by 90 percent, Iran’s navy is devastated, two-thirds of its production facilities are damaged or destroyed, and the United States and Israel have overwhelming air superiority over Iran,” Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement.
Is Tehran saving its missiles and drones?
Data from public sources show that Iran has launched fewer missiles and drones than in previous weeks. But this could also be because the army is holding back ammunition and wants to use it in a targeted manner. The Iranian military shot down both an F-15E fighter jet and an A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft on Friday. One F-15 crew member is still missing. This was a setback for the Trump administration, which had previously declared air sovereignty over Iran.
US officials told the New York Times that Iran fired about 20 rockets a day at Israel, one or two at a time. A Western official said Friday that Iran fires 15 to 30 ballistic missiles and 50 to 100 disposable attack drones daily. What also makes it difficult to assess is the fact that Iran is working with dummies that look like rocket launchers from the air. It is therefore unclear how many of the allegedly destroyed launch systems were actually weapons. Iran also has a sophisticated tunnel and bunker system in which the majority of its drones and missiles are stored.
Sale of high-resolution recordings prohibited
The American broadcaster CNN reported on Friday that, according to its information from secret service circles, around half of Iran’s missile launch pads are still intact. Despite the daily attacks by the USA and Israel on military targets over the past five weeks, there are still thousands of disposable combat drones in the Iranian arsenal.
An independent clarification of the actual damage has so far been possible by comparing satellite images. But that’s getting more difficult now. The US satellite imaging company Planet Labs will no longer publish high-resolution aerial photographs of the areas affected by the war in the Middle East until further notice. The company said on Saturday that the US government had asked satellite image providers to implement an “indefinite retention of image material”. Therefore, retroactively to March 9, 2026, “we will switch to a controlled access model,” the company said in a message sent to customers and available to the AFP news agency.
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