Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
One billion dollars – that's how much some experts said April’s joint Israeli-US-French effort to shoot down an Iranian attack on Israel cost. It is about 4 per cent of Israel’s pre-war 2022 defence budget of $23.4 billion – although allies footed much of the cost.
That shared cost – and problems making missile-killing missiles – is in the spotlight due to the joint US-Israeli production of key interceptors.
After another strike on October 1 of around 180 ballistic missiles, it raises the question of sustainability for Israel, if Iran is thought to have many more long-range missiles in its estimated arsenal of 3,000.
April’s attack consisted of maybe 300 drones and cruise missiles, and by some estimates 100 ballistic missiles that barrel down from the edge of space at more than five times the speed of sound.
The second attack presents an unprecedented problem – there have never before been such big ballistic missile attacks, raising the question of whether enough interceptors can be built quickly. The US announced it would send the Terminal High-Altitude Air Defence (THAAD) system to reinforce Israel's defences on Monday.
Arrow 3, Israel’s high-altitude missile interceptor, is produced by US firm Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in coordination with the US Missile Defence Agency. IAI subsidiary Stark Aerospace Inc makes the “canisters” for the missile in the US, which contain its complex electronics. About 50 per cent of Arrow 3's parts are made in the US, according to IAI including "significant" components. IAI also said, in 2017, that production was spread across 20 states.
Here things become challenging. Missiles require advanced materials and electronic subcomponents that are sourced from a limited number of suppliers, such as defence tech firm PacSci EMC. Having niche component producers across the supply chain can place a strain on production.
“Because a lot of these munitions are produced stateside, it's competing with their own order book of these defences,” says David Walsh, a defence industry consultant.
“One of the things that was identified as a major flaw in the US defence industrial base is using only, for example, one supplier for small rocket motors, which is a real problem if you want to ramp up production in a hurry.”
Even in Ukraine, Russia’s largest attacks involving more than 100 missiles have sometimes involved low-flying cruise missiles. The sheer number of ballistic missile attacks on Israel strains their high-altitude interception.
Cost is a second issue. With the Arrow 3 costing around $3.5 million each, intercepting Iran’s missiles so far would cost a billion in total – if all missiles were intercepted this year. The system can “choose” not to intercept if it calculates an inbound missile will miss, but this advantage has its limits if hundreds are launched.
The Arrow price tag also comes on top of other interception costs for lower altitude threats, countered by systems like David’s Sling, which has missiles costing about $1 million, and the cheaper Iron Dome, which tackles short-range rockets. Iran’s ballistic missiles are thought to cost anywhere from $80,000 to $3 million, but the country has prioritised building up its arsenal for decades.
“What the Iranians are using is the Shahab 3 for the most part, which is a derivative of a North Korean design called the Nodong. Estimates are kind of hard to nail down, but that's estimated to be about $3 million a unit. So there's not an enormous disparity in price,” says Mr Walsh.
“The cost differences are not as serious as people think, but in terms of potentially forcing the Israelis to run out completely, that's more of a risk.”
Drone, missiles and dollars
While ballistic missiles are far more expensive than most of the drones in April’s attack, it is extremely expensive to take them down: some missile interceptors cost up to $10 million.
Nato and Israel expend significant resources trying to find low-cost ways of shooting down drones, which can easily be “swarmed”, draining air defences that use extremely costly interceptor missiles until the precious missiles simply run out.
Iran-made drones used against US forces in Iraq, Syria and Jordan cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to several hundred thousand. The US and EU have naval missions in the Red Sea parrying drone and missile attacks on Israel and against ships. Standard Missile 2s used to hit some Houthi drones cost around $2 million, against drones costing up to $50,000.
Wes Rumbaugh, an expert on defence procurement and missiles at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, explains the strain on production of the Standard Missile, but says it is manageable.
“Some have raised concerns about SM-3 procurement rates based on the 2025 [US] budget request of only 12 interceptors, but the data from prior years is more encouraging. Over the 10 years prior to 2025 (2015-2024), the US has procured nearly 500 SM-3 interceptors, suggesting its inventory is healthy despite the recent expenditures of interceptors in the defence of Israel. The SM-6 procurements have been similarly healthy at a level of 125 missiles per year since 2017.”
Meanwhile, the cost of shooting down drones is falling: a fairly low-powered laser can take down a small drone for a couple of dollars a shot, although the technology is in its infancy. Machine guns and multi-cannon weapons, using modern (albeit expensive) radar, can also fill the sky with flak, with relatively affordable bullets.
For Israel and allies, this leaves the problem of high-cost missiles to tackle other missiles. Mr Rumbaugh also highlights a need for more funding for US interceptors.
“Expanded production would likely require additional funding to provide a continued demand signal. If the US engagements in the Red Sea and Israel have truly stressed interceptor inventories, then supplemental funding to replace expended missiles would be an appropriate response.”
For Arrow 3, the system will benefit from an export deal with Germany last year, which could integrate the system into the European Sky Shield Initiative, a coordinated air defence and procurement program.
Niche capability
Israel's Arrow 3 missile relies on exquisite technology. Its ground-based Green Pine radar uses the latest active electronically steered array (AESA) radar, the gold standard for modern air defence that uses gallium nitride chips – a material that can handle high voltages and dissipate heat. Extra power translates into more focused, longer range beams without overheating, reducing the need for bulky cooling systems.
About 2,300 antennas allow for powerful, rapidly steered radar beams over very long distances, up to 900km, with high-fidelity identification of targets at distance.
This early warning allows the system to identify different types of missiles on the edge of space, several thousand kilometres away. Meanwhile, ground-based computers calculate the point of launch and impact, evaluating whether it is worth intercepting the missile.
An interceptor missile is then fired, travelling up in some cases beyond the karman line, above 80km, where it makes its interception. Receiving datalinks from the radar, even at high speeds over hundreds of kilometres, the Arrow interceptor eventually uses its own seeker to close with the ballistic missile.
By this point, it is using an infrared sensor to detect the hot enemy missile against the freezing blackness of space, guided to directly hit the weapon using small rocket motors.
Its microelectronics have to withstand high G-forces and extreme temperatures moving at three kilometres a second.
There’s no public data on Arrow production or stockpiles, but it's likely that in the years before the Gaza war, an adequate stockpile has been built up. That could change if Iran keeps up its missile barrages, Mr Walsh says.
“As long as the Americans are there to support them, and there's been no sign so far that they won't be, the problem is kind of attrition by exhaustion. Making the Israelis run out of interceptors, and relying on the fact that production is quite hard to ramp up in response. The Iranians have had some of their missiles in service since 2003 so they've had 20 years to stockpile.”
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Kandahar%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ric%20Roman%20Waugh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EGerard%20Butler%2C%20Navid%20Negahban%2C%20Ali%20Fazal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The Lost Letters of William Woolf
Helen Cullen, Graydon House
What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
No%20Windmills%20in%20Basra
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Diaa%20Jubaili%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20180%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublisher%3A%20Deep%20Vellum%20Publishing%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Emirates exiles
Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.
Jonny Macdonald
Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.
Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.
Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202-litre%204-cylinder%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E268hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E380Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh208%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20trailblazers
%3Cp%3ESixteen%20boys%20and%2015%20girls%20have%20gone%20on%20from%20Go-Pro%20Academy%20in%20Dubai%20to%20either%20professional%20contracts%20abroad%20or%20scholarships%20in%20the%20United%20States.%20Here%20are%20two%20of%20the%20most%20prominent.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EGeorgia%20Gibson%20(Newcastle%20United)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20reason%20the%20academy%20in%20Dubai%20first%20set%20up%20a%20girls%E2%80%99%20programme%20was%20to%20help%20Gibson%20reach%20her%20potential.%20Now%20she%20plays%20professionally%20for%20Newcastle%20United%20in%20the%20UK.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMackenzie%20Hunt%20(Everton)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EAttended%20DESS%20in%20Dubai%2C%20before%20heading%20to%20the%20UK%20to%20join%20Everton%20full%20time%20as%20a%20teenager.%20He%20was%20on%20the%20bench%20for%20the%20first%20team%20as%20recently%20as%20their%20fixture%20against%20Brighton%20on%20February%2024.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Match info
Athletic Bilbao 0
Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)
Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins
Dubai World Cup Carnival card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group 1 (PA) US$75,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
7.05pm: Al Rashidiya Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (Turf) 1,800m
7.40pm: Meydan Cup Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,810m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,600m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
9.25pm: Al Shindagha Sprint Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 2,000m
The National selections:
6.30pm - Ziyadd; 7.05pm - Barney Roy; 7.40pm - Dee Ex Bee; 8.15pm - Dubai Legacy; 8.50pm - Good Fortune; 9.25pm - Drafted; 10pm - Simsir
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Brief scores:
Everton 0
Leicester City 1
Vardy 58'
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Wonka
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Paul%20King%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3ETimothee%20Chalamet%2C%20Olivia%20Colman%2C%20Hugh%20Grant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
