In a video released by Al Jazeera on 10/4, the antenna surface and the building beneath the AN/FPS-132 surveillance radar were punctured and scorched in multiple places, with debris scattered around. The facility was also dark, seemingly due to a power outage.

These are the first close-up images of the radar system's damage since it sustained an Iranian attack in the early stages of the conflict. "The extent of the damage appears more severe than what satellite images previously showed," noted Egypt's Intel Observer, an X social media account specializing in open-source analysis of Middle East conflicts.

Damage to the AN/FPS-132 radar at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, shown in a video posted on 10/4. *Video: Al Jazeera*

The AN/FPS-132 is an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, typically deployed with two to three transmit-receive antenna faces. This design eliminates the rotating mechanism of conventional radars. Each radar face manages a separate airspace sector with a 120-degree azimuth angle, providing a total viewing angle of 240-360 degrees.

With a maximum tracking range of 4,800 km, the AN/FPS-132 radar is likened to an "all-seeing eye" that provides early warning of ballistic missile attacks. The US operates a total of five such systems, primarily to detect intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from Russia, or ballistic missiles fired from submarines in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, with trajectories towards US territory.

The US Department of State approved a 1.1 billion USD deal in 2013, valued at over 2.1 billion USD today, to sell an AN/FPS-132 system to Qatar, along with spare parts and technical support. This system, located in northern Qatar, approximately 55 km from the capital Doha, is capable of detecting missiles launched from Iran and Yemen.

Some military experts suggest the system is part of Qatar's military, but US forces stationed there operate it. Clash Report, a conflict analysis site, believes it is part of the US missile defense network designed to protect bases in the Middle East from threats posed by Iran and proxy groups such as the Houthi.

The AN/FPS-132 radar in Qatar in a satellite image taken on 6/3. *Photo: Planet Labs*

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on 28/2 that it had destroyed "the AN/FPS-132 radar system located at a US base in Qatar". Commercial satellite images taken by Planet Labs a few days later revealed damage to the radar's surface, along with water marks from firefighting efforts.

Pham Giang (Source: Al Jazeera, Anadolu)