What are Israel’s military capabilities?
Israel’s military has long been supported by the United States, with $3.3 billion in annual funding, plus $500 million toward missile defense technology.
Israel is one of the best-armed nations in the wider Middle East. Its air force includes the advanced American F-35 fighter jet, missile defense batteries including the American-made Patriot, the Iron Dome rocket-defense system and a pair of missile-defense systems developed with the U.S., the Arrow and David’s Sling.
Israel has armored personnel carriers and tanks, and a fleet of drones and other technology available to support any street-to-street battles.
Israel has some 170,000 troops typically on active duty and has called up some 360,000 reservists for the war — three-fourths of its estimated capacity, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a British think tank. With the war now in its fifth month, many of those reservists have returned home.
Israel has also long maintained an undeclared nuclear weapons program.
ISRAEL’S ARMED FORCES:
TOTALS: Active: 176,500, Reserve 565,000
ARMY: 133,000, including 107,000 conscripts.
Main battle tanks – 480, including 160 Merkava MkII, 160 Merkava MkIII, 160 Merkava MkIV.
Armoured personnel carriers – 1,265.
Artillery – 530 artillery pieces.
NAVY: 9,500, including 2,500 conscripts
Submarines – three Dolphin (GER type 212 variant) tactical submarines
Patrol and coastal combatants – 59 including three corvettes
AIR FORCE: 34,000
Combat capable aircraft – 440, with 143 fighters including 30 F-35 jets 16 F-15A Eagle, six F-15B, 17 F-15C and 11 F-15D and 77 F-16-A Fighting Falcons and 16 F-16Bs 251 ground attack fighters; 46 attack aircraft
Attack helicopters – 77
OTHER FORCES: Air defence includes the Iron Dome short-range missile interceptor, the Patriot mid-range missile interceptor, and the Arrow 2 ballistic missile interceptor, more than 24 SAMs and 920 guns.
STRATEGIC FORCES: Israel is believed to have up to 200 nuclear warheads. Its assumed means of delivery include Jericho1 short-range ballistic missiles and Jericho intermediate rangeballistic missiles.
