As Operation Roaring Lion continues into its fifth day, it is reshaping the security landscape of the Middle East, and, potentially, the world.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Lt.-Gen. Dick Newton, who previously served as assistant vice chief of staff and director of the Air Staff for the US Air Force, called the current US-Israel cooperation against the Iranian regime “historic and unprecedented.”
For the first time ever, in the operation, known in the US as Epic Fury, two allied nations are conducting fully integrated, multi-domain operations. This synchronization, built and strengthened over years of joint training, has come to fruition.
“We are conducting the most complex joint operations and using all domains,” Newton told the Post. Add to that the “complexity of those multiple domains and the complexity of the two nations.”
“And if other nations want to join, they are more than welcome,” Newton said, referring to the Gulf nations, which have also faced an unparalleled number of missile and drone attacks by Iran.
'Monumental' synchronization
He defined the level of synchronization between the two main allies as “monumental” and likely to be of deep concern to Russia and China as they watch the effectiveness of the US-Israel joint operations against Iran.
“Imagine what Vladimir Putin is seeing from the operation in June, and fast forward to the capture of Maduro in Venezuela, and now fast forward to the war with Iran,” Newton said.
As Shahed drones and ballistic missiles continue to fly through the skies, the issue of missile-defense endurance has become central to planners in Washington, Jerusalem, and across the Gulf.
The United States has long been the primary supplier of advanced air and missile-defense systems to partners such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
While Israel has its own Blue & White platforms, notably the Arrow, David’s Sling, and Iron Dome, several Gulf states have diversified their arsenals, purchasing Korean and Russian interceptor systems alongside American ones. That shift, once seen as a diplomatic irritant, may now have strategic benefits for the US.
The concern in Washington is straightforward. A sustained confrontation with Iran will almost certainly involve repeated waves of Iranian ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones targeting US bases and Gulf infrastructure, such as airports, in addition to civilian sites.
Newton described the current conflict to the Post through what he calls a “zero-sum equation.” Every ballistic missile, cruise missile, or drone that Iran launches at American, Israeli, or Gulf targets reduces its finite stockpile.
“We call this ‘missile math.’ How many are in the inventory? [It’s] their stockpile versus the stockpile on the defensive side of the protecting forces. It’s like a math equation. Do you have more in your stockpile to defend against what Iran will continue to levy? There is a finite number on both sides,” he explained.
Both sides are working with limited inventories. Iran has only so many missiles and drones, and the United States, Israel, and the Gulf states have only so many interceptors.
The strategic question is whether the defenders can maintain enough capacity to counter what the Islamic Republic continues to launch.
Since Iran has now drawn every Gulf partner into the conflict, and each missile fired at a Gulf country is one less available for use against Israel or the US.
This dynamic was clearly understood in what Newton referred to as “exquisite” American and Israeli contingency planning.
Meanwhile, the relentless and precise bombardment of Iranian targets is destroying the Islamic Republic’s missile arsenal and launchers.
“What I believe is happening – and remember that Iran is two-and-a-half times the size of Texas – [is that] the threat ring and capability to harm Israel and American forces is getting smaller and smaller because of the exquisite application of the Israeli and American air campaign and the American sea campaign,” Newton noted
Iran is believed to have fewer than 3,000 ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel and even Europe.
Newton suggested that in the coming days, US and Israeli forces would likely have destroyed a large part of Iran’s ballistic missile capability, though its drone arsenal would be considerably less affected.
And as Iran’s ability to strike diminishes, so will its target list.
So far, the Islamic Republic has employed missiles and drones indiscriminately against civilian and military targets. But the “robust nature” of that capability is eroding.
Newton expects the next phase of US-Israel operations to shift toward deep strikes on the foundations of the Iranian regime, namely command and control networks, military infrastructure, defense-industrial facilities, and systems enabling long-term weapons production.
This is not just about destroying launchers, he stressed, “It’s about undermining the regime’s ability to regenerate its arsenal.”
Newton, who was the first commander of the B-2 stealth squadron in the early 1990s, described the fighter plane as just one of the “exquisite capabilities” utilized on the current battlefield.
But, he said, modern warfare is not only about aircraft and missiles. The real advantages are the integrated intelligence, cyber operations, space assets, and autonomous systems. He highlighted LUCAS (Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System) drones as one of many examples of US and Israeli “innovative juices” producing rapid, effective solutions.
And beyond the conventional aerial weapons is the overwhelming advantage of cyber warfare and integration of all assets to fight as one: “It’s a game-changer.”
“It’s one thing to have all these elements, but the command and control of all of it together is something else,” he said. “It’s much more than just hardware. It’s a multidimensional battlespace, which means traditional land, sea, and air capabilities, plus advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities, space capabilities, drones, and more.”
Newton argued that the ability to adapt and manufacture at speed was becoming as decisive as battlefield tactics.
The defense industrial base, he said, has had an “‘aha!’ moment” thanks to the war in Ukraine and now with Iran. It has realized that it needs to adjust to create capacities at scale because operational success depends on the ability to produce new capabilities in weeks, not years, and deliver them directly to combat units.
“Warfighters have told me: ‘I need something within six weeks, maximum two months – not next year,’” Newton said.