Israel is reportedly running low on missile interceptors as Iran continues to deplete its own ballistic missile reserves to attack the Jewish state, potentially leaving Israel in a dilemma if it runs out of defensive munitions before Tehran exhausts its arsenal.

Israel is running out of “Arrow” interceptor missiles, a key defense component that allows the nation to stave off Iranian ballistic missile attacks that the Iron Dome system is not equipped to handle, an unnamed U.S. official told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. While Iran is also reportedly burning through its stockpile of roughly 2,000 ballistic missiles, it has recently started reducing the size of its salvos, and the question remains on whether or not Israel’s world-class air defense systems will be able to keep up with the pace of Iranian bombardment.

“That’s really the challenge Israel faces, is it can’t replace the ones it’s burning up as quickly as it’s using them. And this is especially true of the more advanced systems that Israel is using to intercept Iran’s ballistic missiles,” Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Intercepting ballistic missiles is just incredibly difficult because of their trajectory and speed. So I think that’s the biggest concern.”

Israel’s “Iron Dome” defense system is primarily designed to intercept less advanced rockets, primarily fired by Hamas and other terrorist groups from the Gaza Strip. To defend against incoming ballistic missiles, which arrive on target at much higher velocities with unpredictable vectors, Israel employs both the Arrow system and “David’s Sling,” which is designed for medium range ballistic missiles.

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