Iranian Ballistic Missile Precision Strikes Destroy Missile Defence Radars in Bahrain and Qatar

Reports from multiple sources indicate that Iranian ballistic missile strikes successfully targeted and destroyed air defence radars in Bahrain and Qatar, following the launch of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iranian targets earlier in the day on February 28. Bahrain is the permanent base of the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet, while Qatar in the 2010s emerged as the primary hub for U.S. Armed Forces’ operations in the Middle East. The largest military facility in the Qatar, Al Udeid Air Base, had previously been singled out for a limited Iranian strike on June 23, 2025, in response to a limited U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Chinese satellite imagery in early February exposed the exact positions of an Army MIM-104 Patriot air defence system at the facility, before later confirming deployments of at least 16 KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft and a number of RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft there. The aircraft were reportedly withdrawn on February 25-27, possibly to U.S. bases in Turkey.

The capabilities of air defences in Qatar against even limited Iranian missile attacks has long been in question. Although U.S. defence officials initially praised the success of U.S. Army and Qatari Air Force MIM-104 Patriot air defence systems in protecting Al Udeid Air Base were successful on June 23, it was later conceded by Pentagon sources that despite Iran having used less advanced Fateh-313 missiles to launch the attack, the systems were not fully successful. This admission was made  following the release of satellite footage which appeared to show the destruction of a radome housing the modernisation enterprise terminal communications suite, which had a value of approximately $15 million. After this was exposed by the footage, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed in mid-July: “One Iranian ballistic missile impacted Al Udeid Air Base June 23 while the remainder of the missiles were intercepted by U.S. and Qatari air defence systems.”

The failure of missile defences in June 2025 was particularly notable not only because they were heavily concentrated at and around Al Udeid Air Base by two separate services coordinating their defences, which represented an unusually high concentration of interceptors and radars, but also because Iran had given the U.S. Armed Forces prior warning of the strike. This has long led analysts to project that a viable defence of the U.S. and its strategic partners’ assets across the Middle East will not be possible in the event of a large scale conflict. It remains uncertain, but highly possible, that the destruction of ballistic missile defence radars may significantly further impede U.S., Qatari and Bahraini forces’ ability to conduct missile defence operations. The U.S. Army has heavily depleted its stockpiles of surface-to-air missiles for the Patriot system, which in July 2025 were confirmed to have fallen to just 25 percent of the volume deemed necessary by the Pentagon, in large part due to the scale of donations of the systems and associated munitions made to Ukraine by the Joe Biden administration from 2023-2024. This has further limited its ability to sustain shootdowns of Iranian ballistic missiles, particularly against forward positioned facilities like Al Udeid Air Base.