Due to the specific military-political situation in the region, Iran is forced to actively develop all the main classes of weapons, including ballistic and ground-to-ground cruise missiles. With their help, sufficiently massive and powerful missile forces have already been created, and their development does not stop. New samples are regularly demonstrated and there are reports of the adoption of such systems into service.
It should be recalled that Iran is trying to keep basic information about its missile forces secret. As a result, some new samples remain secret until testing or demonstration at parades. Also, the exact number of certain complexes on duty and in reserve remains unknown.
New items of recent years
In the current decade, the Iranian industry has managed to present and bring to the series several new missile systems. In most cases, we are talking about the further development of already mastered technologies. In addition, some projects provided for the introduction of new solutions borrowed from foreign projects.
In 2010, Iran first showed the Kiam-1 short-range ballistic missile. According to foreign intelligence, by this time the product had entered service. It is believed that the Kiam-1 BRMD is built on the basis of ideas and technologies used in the Shahab family. The missile is equipped with a liquid propulsion system providing a firing range of up to 750 km. With a starting weight of 6150 kg, the throw weight reaches 750 kg, which is enough for the use of a conventional or special warhead. The rocket can be used with different launchers.
Another option for the development of the Shahabov is the Imad medium-range missile. The existence of this MRBM was told in the fall of 2015. According to various sources, the first serial "Imads" entered the troops before the end of 2016. The missile of this type has a range of 2000 km and carries a warhead weighing 750 kg. The use of warheads of different types is possible.
Back in 2012, Iran announced the emergence of a promising medium-range cruise missile "Meshkat" capable of hitting targets at a range of 2000 km. In the future, new information about this project was not received. However, in 2015, they showed another missile called Sumar. This product is launched from a ground guide and delivers a payload over a range of 700 km. The Sumar project is believed to be based on the Soviet / Russian Kh-55 aircraft missile.
In 2015, for the first time presented BRMD "Fateh-313", created on the basis of the existing "Fateh-110". This product has received a solid-fuel engine of a new type and a monoblock head. The flight range of such a rocket was declared at the level of 500 km. Other characteristics were not disclosed.
There is a version according to which the Fateh-313 BRMD was an intermediate development and was intended to test the solutions required for the following projects. With its help, the Zolfagar BRMD was created with a range of about 700 km. It differs from the previous systems of its family in increased size and weight (4, 62 tons). Also, the payload has grown to 580 kg and guidance systems have appeared that control the flight until they hit the target. Foreign sources mention that no later than 2017, the Zolfagar rocket entered service. In June 2017, Iran carried out another missile strike on terrorists in Syria, and, according to some reports, it was Zolfagars that were used in it. Thus, this is the first missile of its family to take part in a real combat operation.
The last known representative of the Fateh-110 family is the Fateh Mobin product, presented in the spring of 2018. The characteristics of such a BRMD are not specified, but it is argued that it is equipped with a developed homing system. With its help, the rocket should confidently hit land and surface targets.
At the beginning of 2017, tests of the Khorramshahr liquid MRBM started. According to various sources, the range of this missile reaches 1500-2000 km. Payload - up to 1500-1800 kg. The possibility of installing a monoblock or split warhead is declared. At parades, "Khorramshahr" was demonstrated with a mobile launcher on a wheeled chassis. The current status of the project is unclear.
Promising samples
The bulk of the missiles introduced this decade have already entered service or are preparing for it. At the same time, some samples are still at the testing stage, and their development by the troops is a matter of the foreseeable future. As is the case with other prototypes, the new missiles are a direct development of existing products.
Last year, materials on the upgraded Kiam-1 rocket were shown at one of the Iranian exhibitions. Its main differences lie in the design of the warhead. The latter receives aerodynamic rudders and control systems, due to which it must maneuver and aim at the target in the final phase of the flight.
At the beginning of this year, the exhibition showed materials on the Khorramshahr-2 project, which provides for the modernization of the already well-known missile of the same name. The main difference between the new product is a detachable warhead with its own control systems. The military also showed a video of a test launch of a new MRBM. The performance characteristics and terms of entry into service remain unknown.
Also in 2019, the command spoke about the work on the creation of a new BRMD of the Fateh-110 family. The promising rocket is called "Dizful" and is a further development of the "Zolfagar" product. While maintaining a number of existing features and characteristics, it will differ in an increased flight range - up to 1000 km.
Another novelty this year is the Hoveise cruise missile, which is a further development of the Sumar. The main goal of the development of this line of missiles is now to increase the flight range. For the new sample, this parameter is declared at 1300 km.
According to various sources, new ballistic and cruise missiles, presented at the beginning of 2019, are now being tested, after which they may enter service. In the absence of serious problems and difficulties, new samples will enter the army over the next few years. The desired results of such rearmament will be obtained by the mid-twenties.
Gradual development
During the current decade, the Iranian industry has created, tested and put into series a number of cruise and ballistic missiles of different classes. Work on such systems continues. New samples regularly appear at exhibitions and parades, and then they are noticed in the troops. All this perfectly shows how much attention Tehran pays to the development of the main components of the armed forces, which make the main contribution to national security.
It is easy to see that all models of this decade and new missiles that are to enter service in the future are created according to the same principles. Iran is gradually improving existing designs by introducing certain modern components. There are no sharp jumps, and each new rocket is very similar to its predecessors.
First of all, this is due to the limited industrial potential of Iran and the unwillingness to take unnecessary technical and technological risks. Practice shows that gradual development without radical breakthroughs is also capable of solving the assigned tasks. New models are constantly being added to service, comparing favorably with the previous ones.
Current work is focused on short and medium range systems that meet current requirements. Iran's probable adversaries are in the same region, and missiles with a flight range of no more than 2-3 thousand km are needed to destroy their facilities. All new ballistic and cruise missiles meet these requirements. The development of long-range systems, as far as is known, has not yet gone beyond the scope of preliminary studies, including due to the absence of a real need.
However, even in the absence of intercontinental missiles, Iran was able to create large and powerful missile forces capable of responding to existing challenges and ensuring the containment of potential adversaries. To solve different problems, it is proposed to use cruise and ballistic missiles with different flight ranges and with different warheads. All this makes it possible to consider the Iranian missile forces in their current state as a universal military-political instrument. In terms of characteristics and capabilities, it still lags behind the troops of the leading countries, but fully corresponds to the existing conditions of the Middle East, and also provides important advantages over neighboring countries.
