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ISRAELI military chiefs today showed off the huge dented carcass of one of 181 ballistic missiles launched in Iran’s blitz.
The Sun was given access to a terrifying Kheibar Shekan rocket among a blizzard of missiles intended to decimate Israel.
Dan Charity
Dan Charity
Dan Charity
AFPIt was felled by the Jewish nation’s space age Arrow 3 interceptors after entering low orbit at up to five times the speed of sound.
The rocket’s enormous fuel tank crashed into the Negev Desert just half a mile from Arad – a southern Israeli town of 28,000 people.
Its one-tonne warhead exploded in the upper atmosphere as scores more were shot down, preventing unprecedented carnage on the ground.
The 37-foot missile’s shell was first discovered by local children – and became a playground for them as they climbed on it to pose for selfies.
A masked Israel weapons specialist identified only as “Major G” showed off the downed missile inside an Israeli Defence Forces base in southern Israel today.
He told The Sun: “This is just one of at least 180 ballistic missiles launched on October 1 sent to kill as many Israelis as possible.
“Our defences managed to stop the vast majority of them – and stopped a major mass casualty event.
“This missile weighs about 18-tonnes at launch with a one-tonne warhead which would have killed many people on the ground had it exploded in a populated place.
“It had the power to wipe out an entire neighbourhood and was just one of many directed towards the state of Israel.
“You can see here today the scale of the threat we are facing and the reason why we are having to fight back.”
The huge green fuel tank casing had been daubed in graffiti by local children before its arrival at the base, including messages of defiance and a Jewish Star of David.
Military sources at the base also confirmed for the first time that Iranian blast carnage had been averted by sheer fluke in the nearby city of Beersheba during the October 1 blitz.
A one-tone warhead from another Kheibar Shekan missile landed in a residential street but failed to explode and had to be removed by bomb disposal experts.
Israeli military chiefs say thousands of lives were saved by the state-of-the-art missile interceptors spearheaded by the Arrow 3 missile system.
The hypersonic anti-ballistic system pioneered by Israeli and US scientists knocks out ballistic missiles in space before they descend to targets.
Arrow 3 missiles have a range 1,500 miles and can change direction to intercept threats and even destroy orbiting satellites in space.
Israel has yet to respond to Iran’s second thwarted blitz in the past six months but has vowed to punish its arch foe with an attack on military, oil or nuclear sites.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was due to speak to US president Joe Biden today to outline the blueprint for his attack plan.
The Iranian missile was shown to the Sun’s team in Israel today along with a smaller Emad missile launched in the last attack by the rogue Islamist regime on April 14.
A scary stash of weapons seized from Iran’s Lebanese Hezbollah terror troops was also displayed – ramped up fears of global escalation of the exploding regional conflict.
IDF chiefs said Russian-made high-tech weaponry made up 60-70 per cent of arms recovered so far from the Israeli ground operation in southern Lebanon.
Sophisticated Russian Kornet anti-tank missile systems, mines and thermal imaging equipment were among the cache put on display making up a “tiny proportion” of Hezbollah’s arsenal.
Fiendish improvised explosive devices disguised as rocks and evil “jumping” mines which leap into the air and explode to cut advancing troops to pieces were also shown.
Major G told The Sun: “What we have found shows a serious upgrade of the capabilities of Hamas in Gaza.
“Around 60-70 per cent of the weapons we are finding were made in Russia and a lot of this equipment is sophisticated.
“We cannot be sure how it is getting to Hezbollah but it’s likely to be from Russia’s allies in Iran or black market arms traders in eastern Europe.
“It could also be coming directly from Russia – we just don’t know.
“But wherever it comes from, these Russian weapons pose a serious threat to our forces and the supply has to be stopped.”
Markings on some of the Kornet anti-tank weapons suggested they had been manufactured in Russia as recently as 2020.
The Kornet system is known to be accurate and deadly from up to three miles and has been used against Israeli vehicles and positions for years.
Analysts believe stocks of Russian weapons may also be funnelled to Hezbollah through Syria, where Vladimir Putin’s forces are backing brutal President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Explosive charges were also put on display which appeared to have been built specifically to smash holes in border barriers.
Israeli commanders ordered the ongoing invasion by around 25,000 troops claiming they had discovered an October 7-style Hezbollah plot to invade and occupy Galilee.
The stash was shown to the Sun as IDF chiefs revealed a terror tunnel had burrowed 32-feet under Israel’s northern border in preparation for an attack.
Hezbollah is believed to have been preparing to follow up last year’s Hamas horror in the south with a bigger killing and kidnapping spree of its own.
But the move was repelled when Israel rushed reinforcements north to confront the danger.
Israeli forces are now attempting to dismantle the Lebanese terror group – which is believed to have amassed 150,000 missiles and drones.
Bloodshed spiralled across the north of Israel today as Hezbollah rockets killed an Israeli couple out walking their dogs.
The couple were killed in Kiryat Shemona, near the Lebanese border by shrapnel as a volley of rockets appeared to elude Iron Dome defences.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack later claiming it had targeted troops in the area.
Meanwhile, two victims of a terrorist knife attack were fighting for their lives and four more were wounded in the city of Hedera.
An Arab Israeli sped around the city on a moped and knifed bystanders at three locations before being cornered by armed locals and arrested.
Hezbollah also continued its attacks on the northern port of Haifa with a 40 rocket barrage, a day after more than 100 launches.
Some of the rockets were intercepted but rescue teams reported five people on the ground had been wounded by shrapnel.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes continued to attack terror sites across southern Lebanon as areas of southern Beirut.
Dan Charity
Dan Charity
AP
AP
AFP
English (US)