Khairul Alam
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Iran tests anti-ship missiles
Published: Feb. 9, 2011 at 1:08 PM
TEHRAN, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Tehran announced that it is mass-producing ballistic missiles that can travel three times the speed of sound and hit naval targets on the high seas.
Cmdr. Mohammad Ali Jafari, who heads the elite military force, the Revolutionary Guards, said the missile had a range of 186 miles, cannot be tracked and can hit targets with high precision.
"Iran is mass-producing a smart ballistic missile for sea targets with a speed three times more than the speed of sound," state news agency IRNA quoted Jafari as saying about the new missile.
He didn't elaborate but footage of the test-launch on state television showed a missile being fired from a mobile launcher from a desert terrain.
The announcement of the new missile comes as Iran has celebrations to mark the 32nd anniversary of its Islamic revolution, which toppled the U.S.-backed shah.
Jafari said the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps was also in the process of developing radar with a range of 310 miles. He said longer-range radar would be produced beginning March 21.
Military officials said the projects constituted a "long leap" in maintaining the security of Iran.
The announcements sound a day after the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned it would close the Strait of Hormuz if Iran were to be threatened.
Experts estimate about 40 percent of all oil shipments transit the strait, which is basically the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The announcement also follows Iran's unveiling of new satellites, which it said were domestically engineered and manufactured.
Details of that project are also scarce but should the Islamic republic proceed with its deployment in space it will signal substantial improvement in its missile guidance capability.
Tehran has tried to allay concerns, saying that the project remains on a scientific level.
"Every now and then they get the idea of testing new missiles," said Ali Nourizadeh of the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies. "Once we discovered that they had used Photoshop to show seven missiles simultaneously."
It remained unclear whether military officials in the United States and Israel were dubious of Iran's announcement.
Meir Javedanfar, author of "The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran" was quoted by Fox News as saying that Iran's test-firing signaled that Tehran "takes the threats against its nuclear facilities seriously."
The United States and Israel haven't ruled out the option of military strikes against Iran to stop its nuclear program.
Iran tests anti-ship missiles - UPI.com
Link to the video:
http://media.farsnews.com/Media/8911/Video/891118/891118V0708958.wmv
The weapon shown is a modified Fateh-110 missile, which was better known as a short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile. In the video however, the missile's nose looked different as it lacked a pointed tip, replaced by a rather circular edge. One website claims that this missile actually uses electro-optical guidance in the terminal phase (stumbled upon it in a defense-related blog: Iran... Posing A Credible Threat To The U.S. Navy (Missile) : Satnews Publishers). Other than the different nose, which might explain the incorporation of an optical guidance kit, the video footage also seems to show the missile's own-view as it homes into the target. Electro-optical terminal guidance or not, I must admit that I was startled by this "ballistic" missile's deadly accuracy. However, we must take note that the target was a stationary barge. A 300km range missile travelling at Mach 3 (as claimed by IRGC) would take approximately 5 minutes to reach its target. A target warship travelling at standard 30 knots would be able to cover around 5 kilometers in that time. Whether or not this fact limits the missile's capability is open to debate.
But here is my take on it: Let's assume, the missile indeed uses some sort of an optical guidance for terminal homing, which takes control of the foreplanes once activated. As far as my understanding goes, the limiting factor for such a "ballistic" turned "guided" missile would be the difference in the actual target position and the position calculated during missile launch. As I have already mentioned, a target warship can only travel a maximum of 5km in a straight line from its first position when the missile is launched. For the missile to achieve its maximum possible range of 300km, I reckon it has to have an angle of attack of 45 degrees as it approaches the target. Putting some simple geometry to work, the minimum distance by which the guidance system needs to kick-in would be approximately 12-13km. To me, at such distances, the effectiveness of an electro-optical guidance system is already stretched. What do you guys think?
Published: Feb. 9, 2011 at 1:08 PM
TEHRAN, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Tehran announced that it is mass-producing ballistic missiles that can travel three times the speed of sound and hit naval targets on the high seas.
Cmdr. Mohammad Ali Jafari, who heads the elite military force, the Revolutionary Guards, said the missile had a range of 186 miles, cannot be tracked and can hit targets with high precision.
"Iran is mass-producing a smart ballistic missile for sea targets with a speed three times more than the speed of sound," state news agency IRNA quoted Jafari as saying about the new missile.
He didn't elaborate but footage of the test-launch on state television showed a missile being fired from a mobile launcher from a desert terrain.
The announcement of the new missile comes as Iran has celebrations to mark the 32nd anniversary of its Islamic revolution, which toppled the U.S.-backed shah.
Jafari said the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps was also in the process of developing radar with a range of 310 miles. He said longer-range radar would be produced beginning March 21.
Military officials said the projects constituted a "long leap" in maintaining the security of Iran.
The announcements sound a day after the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned it would close the Strait of Hormuz if Iran were to be threatened.
Experts estimate about 40 percent of all oil shipments transit the strait, which is basically the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The announcement also follows Iran's unveiling of new satellites, which it said were domestically engineered and manufactured.
Details of that project are also scarce but should the Islamic republic proceed with its deployment in space it will signal substantial improvement in its missile guidance capability.
Tehran has tried to allay concerns, saying that the project remains on a scientific level.
"Every now and then they get the idea of testing new missiles," said Ali Nourizadeh of the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies. "Once we discovered that they had used Photoshop to show seven missiles simultaneously."
It remained unclear whether military officials in the United States and Israel were dubious of Iran's announcement.
Meir Javedanfar, author of "The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran" was quoted by Fox News as saying that Iran's test-firing signaled that Tehran "takes the threats against its nuclear facilities seriously."
The United States and Israel haven't ruled out the option of military strikes against Iran to stop its nuclear program.
Iran tests anti-ship missiles - UPI.com
Link to the video:
http://media.farsnews.com/Media/8911/Video/891118/891118V0708958.wmv
The weapon shown is a modified Fateh-110 missile, which was better known as a short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile. In the video however, the missile's nose looked different as it lacked a pointed tip, replaced by a rather circular edge. One website claims that this missile actually uses electro-optical guidance in the terminal phase (stumbled upon it in a defense-related blog: Iran... Posing A Credible Threat To The U.S. Navy (Missile) : Satnews Publishers). Other than the different nose, which might explain the incorporation of an optical guidance kit, the video footage also seems to show the missile's own-view as it homes into the target. Electro-optical terminal guidance or not, I must admit that I was startled by this "ballistic" missile's deadly accuracy. However, we must take note that the target was a stationary barge. A 300km range missile travelling at Mach 3 (as claimed by IRGC) would take approximately 5 minutes to reach its target. A target warship travelling at standard 30 knots would be able to cover around 5 kilometers in that time. Whether or not this fact limits the missile's capability is open to debate.
But here is my take on it: Let's assume, the missile indeed uses some sort of an optical guidance for terminal homing, which takes control of the foreplanes once activated. As far as my understanding goes, the limiting factor for such a "ballistic" turned "guided" missile would be the difference in the actual target position and the position calculated during missile launch. As I have already mentioned, a target warship can only travel a maximum of 5km in a straight line from its first position when the missile is launched. For the missile to achieve its maximum possible range of 300km, I reckon it has to have an angle of attack of 45 degrees as it approaches the target. Putting some simple geometry to work, the minimum distance by which the guidance system needs to kick-in would be approximately 12-13km. To me, at such distances, the effectiveness of an electro-optical guidance system is already stretched. What do you guys think?
ope FUUUUUU
