Iran-Israel conflict: What are Ballistic Missiles and how far can they travel?

Iran has fired hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel, some of which have hit ground targets, in retaliation for Israeli attacks on its nuclear facilities and top military officials.
Many of the incoming missiles were intercepted by Israel, but some managed to get past its defenses and cause serious damage and casualties, including strikes on central Tel Aviv and other locations.

Although the precise extent of Iran's ballistic missile arsenal is unknown, it is generally regarded as one of the biggest and most sophisticated in the area. Ballistic missiles are long-range weapons that use a ballistic, or curved, trajectory to deliver conventional or nuclear warheads. These missiles are launched with strong rocket motors and travel at extremely high speeds as they blast upward into the upper atmosphere or into space. The missile follows a predefined trajectory once its engines are turned off, reentering Earth's atmosphere in a steep dive before hitting its target. Ballistic missiles are capable of transcending continents at distances of few hundred kilometers to over 10,000 kilometers.

Ballistic missiles are classified based on their ranges:

• Battlefield range ballistic missile (BRBM) – less than 200km (124 miles)

• Short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) – less than 1,000km (621 miles)

• Medium/Intermediate-range ballistic missile (MRBM/IRBM) – between 1,000km and 3,500km (621-2,175 miles)

• Long-range ballistic missile (LRBM) – between 3,500km and 5,500km (2,175-3,418 miles)

• Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – greater than 5,500km (3,418 miles)

Ballistic missiles can travel thousands of kilometers in a matter of minutes due to their exceptionally high speed.
Mach, a unit equal to the speed of sound, is used to measure their velocity; for instance, Mach 5 denotes five times the speed of sound.
Iran and Israel are roughly 1,300–1,500 kilometers (800–930 miles) apart. Depending on the type of missile and the launch location, Iranian ballistic missiles traveling at Mach 5 can arrive in Israel in around 12 minutes. Ballistic missiles are particularly deadly because of their great range, rapid speed, and difficulty of intercepting.