Srinagar, June 30 -- At the heart of the expenditure was the deployment of the U.S.'s elite THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system, which fired between 60 and 80 interceptors to shield Israeli cities from Iranian ballistic missile attacks.According toMilitary Watch Magazineeach interceptor costs between $12 million and $15 million, making this one of the most expensive defensive operations in recent U.S. history.

While the U.S. government has long supported Israeli defense through military aid and joint systems like Iron Dome and Arrow, this episode marked a rare instance where American-operated missile defenses were directly used in live combat to protect Israeli territory - at significant cost to U.S. taxpayers.

"The numbe...