The Shimmering Curtain: Iran’s New Cluster Missile Threat

Iran has fundamentally shifted its missile doctrine, moving from single-warhead precision to high-volume saturation using cluster munitions that disperse dozens of sub-munitions mid-flight. This tactical evolution creates a "shimmering curtain" in the sky that exploits a critical gap in multi-layered defense systems like Arrow 3 and David’s Sling, which were primarily designed to intercept single targets in space rather than a cloud of small, low-cost threats in the lower atmosphere. By forcing defenders to use million-dollar interceptors against two-hundred-dollar grenades, this strategy aims to bankrupt defensive architectures while mapping sensor gaps through real-time stress tests on radar processing.