US military defense systems successfully helped thwart Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel following a tense two weeks in which diplomats and military leaders warned about the expected violence.

Iran's first direct attack on Israel, which began April 13 and continued into the next morning, was in response to an April 1 strike on Tehran's consulate in Damascus that was widely attributed to Israel.

Iran launched a barrage of more than 100 medium-range ballistic missiles, more than 30 land-attack cruise missiles and more than 150 attack drones at Israel, a senior US military official said.

"US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces, supported by US European Command destroyers, successfully engaged and destroyed more than 80 one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and at least six ballistic missiles intended to strike Israel from Iran and Yemen," CENTCOM said in a statement April 14.

"This includes a ballistic missile on its launcher vehicle and seven UAVs destroyed on the ground in Iranian-backed Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen prior to their launch."

"Iran's continued unprecedented, malign and reckless behavior endangers regional stability and the safety of US and coalition forces," the statement said.

Almost all the Iranian drones and missiles were intercepted before they reached Israeli territory, the Israeli army said, with help from the United States, Jordan, the United Kingdom and other allies.

Among the US forces that participated in the defensive efforts were the 494th Fighter Squadron, with headquarters in the UK, and the 335th Fighter Squadron, of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, senior US officials told reporters on Sunday.

The two squadrons used their F-15E Strike Eagles to take down about 70 drones heading to Israel. The jets are capable of carrying out both air-to-air missions and long-range air-to-ground missions, including strikes against enemy ground targets, the Air Force says.

The USS Carney and USS Arleigh Burke destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea shot down between four and six ballistic missiles in the attack, the US officials said.

The US Patriot missile defense system in Erbil, northern Iraq, took down another missile over Iraqi airspace, they said.

Israel used US-made fighter jets and the Arrow 3 missile defence system to destroy the remaining threats that made it into Israeli airspace.

The family of missiles, which includes the Arrow 2-4, makes up the long-range layer of Israel's multi-tiered missile defence system.

Ongoing coordination with allies

Ahead of the attack, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken were in "constant, ongoing, continuous contact" with the Israelis, as well as with other countries in the Middle East.

CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla was dispatched to the region and provided real-time updates as well as coordination with regional partners.

Washington deployed additional military assets to the region last week "to bolster regional deterrence efforts and increase force protection for US forces," a US defense official said.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Sunday called the defensive efforts an "incredible effort... but also it shows that Iran is not the military power weight that they claim to be."