Updates here:

Iran has launched hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles. Iran says with this attack, it considers the matter concluded, and any Israeli response will be met with severe retaliation. Iran also tells the US to stay away and that if any regional nation is used to launch the Israeli response, they will be targeted, too.

Israel claims to have intercepted 99% of Iranian response, and the IDF says citizens no longer need to stay near shelters, suggesting the Iranian attack is over. They were helped by UK and US fighter jets in other countries. Israel says it will give “an unprecedented response”. Israel has told the US what their response will consist of.

UN Security Council to meet at 4 PM Eastern Time, Sunday. As of now, it seems all drones and missiles have been intercepted/hit their targets. The impact on Israel has been extremely minor, with minimal casualties and zero fatalities. A military target seems to have been hit. Now we wait for Israel's response.

Hopefully, that too is similarly limited and the situation calms down.

OG Post:

Per randos on Twitter, drones will reach in a few hours. It's not missiles or anything more substantial...yet (and hopefully never).

Edit - Hopefully, this is the only response. I can't stand the people cheering for this or wanting further escalation. Millions will die. I have no idea what Israel will do in retaliation for this retaliation. I don't even have any hopes they'll not respond. I just don't know.

  • ZWQbpkzl [none/use name]
    ·
    3 months ago

    So if the drones have any programming to swerve they'd get through? I'd suspect programming an offensive missile to dodge is easier than programming a defensive missile to intersect. But then I'd expect them to exist already.

    • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]
      ·
      3 months ago

      the patriot batteries that are the iron dome can't even hit 100% of the ballistic sugar rockets fired by Hamas and the US/Ukraine want us to believe they've intercepted hypersonics

      Any modern missile with some kind of jinking is going to be a real challenge for Patriot missiles to intercept

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      3 months ago

      Dunno, but I think so. I really don't know much about the Shahed's capabilities so idk if they're being guided by GPS, dead reckoning, remote control, GLONASS. idk if they can be programmed to do evasive stuff once they get to their target area.

      • ZWQbpkzl [none/use name]
        ·
        3 months ago

        I'd be surpsied if they didn't have some sort of GPS. But I think just doing random evasive maneuvers once their in range of defensives isnt practical or efficient because they'd be in range for a very long time. You'd have to put a sensor on the drone to detect when a missile is incoming and thats probably also cost prohibitive.

    • yuli [she/her]
      ·
      3 months ago

      from what i can find the iron dome uses radar to detect incoming projectiles, but the interceptor missiles themselves use optical sensors to lock on. i don’t think swerving would be enough. maybe flares would be effective since it was mostly designed to counter simple unguided rockets, but i’m not sure.

      • ZWQbpkzl [none/use name]
        ·
        3 months ago

        Flares seem far too bulky for a missile or drone to carry when that could be more fuel or payload.

        Interceptor missiles have to calculate where their target will be and vector towards that point in the future. Its also not chasing the missile like an AA missile chases a plane. Its trying to meet the missile head on, which is far more difficult. I suspect the patriots can sense and recalculate course changes quickly but idk how quickly it can actually maneuver intercept an incoming target if that target is waiting to the last minute to dodge.

        • yuli [she/her]
          ·
          3 months ago

          good point about the weight, afaik modern control systems are pretty decent at ignoring flares anyway. it seems to me that a smaller interceptor rocket would be more maneuverable than the drones, though not sure about the latency between sensing and actuation.