Iran Fires underwater Missile

[RAPTOR]

Iran test-fires high-speed underwater missile

TEHRAN, April 2: Iran successfully test-fired on Sunday a new high-speed underwater missile capable of destroying huge warships and submarines, a top military commander announced. “Today we have successfully test-fired a high-speed underwater missile with a speed of 100 meters per second, which is able to overcome the enemy’s sonar and radar,” Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, the deputy commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards naval force, told state television.

Fadavi claimed the underwater missile was the fastest in the world, with the exception of a missile developed in another country. He did not provide the other nation’s name.

The commander said that even if the missile is detected by a ship’s defence systems, “with its high speed, the warships and submarines cannot escape it.”

He touted the missile’s capabilities.

“Its powerful warhead is capable of destroying large warships and submarines, and the missile itself can be launched from any launching pad,” he said.

On Friday, Iran announced it had successfully test-fired a new missile capable of avoiding radar detection and striking a number of targets simultaneously.

The new weapons were tested during a week-long military exercises in the Gulf.

Iran already has medium-range Shahab-3 missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers, putting arch-enemy Israel and US bases in the Middle East within reach.

Thousands of Iranian troops are conducting war games in the Gulf to prepare the country’s armed forces for warding off “threats” amid increasing tensions with the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The maneuvers are to involve the Revolutionary Guards Corps navy and air force, Iran’s regular army and navy, the volunteer Basij militia, and the Iranian police.—AFP

Link

 

[A.Rahman]

Did anyone saw the testing in news? like video or pic?

I think its another scare tactics being used by Iran.

what do you guys think? is it possible ?

 

[RAPTOR]

Rahman, its actually the russian Shkval missile, Iran seems to have managed to purchase or produce them locally, heres the link for the entire article...http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/shkval.htm



VA-111 Shkval underwater rocket

In 1995 it was revealed that Russia had developed an exceptionally high-speed unguided underwater missile which has no equivalent in the West. Code-named the Shkval (Squall), the new weapon travels at a velocity that would give a targeted vessel very little chance to perform evasive action. The missile has been characterized as a "revenge" weapon, which would be fired along the bearing of an incoming enemy torpedo. The Shkval may be considered a follow-on to the Russian BGT class of evasion torpedoes, which are fired in the direction of an incoming torpedo to try to force an attacking to evade (and hopefully snap the torpedo's guidance wires). The weapon was deployed in the early 1990s, and had been in service for years when the fact of its existence was disclosed.

 

[RAPTOR]

Iran Test Fires New Torpedo in Gulf Oil Nexus

By REUTERS, TEHRAN


Iran test fired a new torpedo in the Strait of Hormuz off its south coast, the world’s main nexus for shipping oil, state television reported on April 3.
Iran rarely gives enough details of its military hardware for analysts to determine whether Tehran is making genuine advances or simply producing defiant propaganda while pressure ratchets up on its nuclear program.
Although Iran can draw on huge manpower, its naval and air force technology is largely dismissed as outmoded.
"Revolutionary Guard naval forces a few minutes ago test fired a powerful torpedo in the Strait of Hormuz. This torpedo is capable of destroying enemy warships and submarines at any depth and moving at any speed," state television said.
The test comes in the middle of Gulf war games that started on March 31. Iran earlier in the war games said it had tested a radar-evading missile and an underwater missile that can outpace enemy warships.
The Pentagon said on April 3 it is possible Iran has produced missiles capable of evading radar and sonar as Tehran has stated in recent days, but added that the Iranians have been known to "boast and exaggerate."
Iran said in February last year that it had started a mass production line of torpedoes.
The Islamic Republic has three elderly Kilo class diesel-electric Russian submarines. These are capable of firing homing torpedoes but military analysts say these vessels are unsuited to modern naval combat.
Iran has also started building midget submarines, which it says are capable of firing torpedoes.
Earlier in the day, Rear Admiral Mohammad-Ebrahim Dehqani said Iran would have further important announcements to make over the course of the war games.
"We are going to have very important news that will make our nation proud in the next few days," he told state television.
"We know that the Iranians are always trying to improve their weapons systems by both foreign and indigenous measures. It’s possible that they are increasing their capability and making strides in radar-absorbing materials and targeting," said Bryan Whitman, a senior Pentagon spokesman.
"However, the Iranians have been known also to boast and exaggerate their statements about great technical and tactical capabilities," Whitman added.
"Iran’s military developments have centered on its ballistic missile program, which Tehren views as its primary deterrent. It has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East," Whitman said. "Over the past year, Iran has continued testing its medium-range ballistic missiles, and has also tested anti-ship missiles," Whitman added.
Western nations have been watching developments in Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities with concern amid a standoff over the Iranian nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at building atomic bombs. Tehran says the program is only civilian.
The United States and Israel have consistently declined to rule out military action against Iran if Tehran fails to resolve the nuclear dispute through diplomatic means.

 

[Bull]

US pressure is doing it trick on the iranian military establishment. They shud thank the americans for this.

 

[uppal340]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060402/wl_nm/iran_missile_dc_3

 

[EagleEyes]

US pressure is doing it trick on the iranian military establishment. They shud thank the americans for this.

True. Iran has really showed aggressiveness in the past years. They actually have done full scale military exercises which they say would force any military to retreat. I believe if U.S declares war on Iran, it will be matter of hours before Iranian military would reach Iraq.

 

[Bull]

True. Iran has really showed aggressiveness in the past years. They actually have done full scale military exercises which they say would force any military to retreat. I believe if U.S declares war on Iran, it will be matter of hours before Iranian military would reach Iraq.

Iran couldnt defeat the Iraq army for 8 lonf years,it took just weeks for the US to dismantle them.

So you think with all these dummy tests Iran stands a chance against US.

 

[sigatoka]

Iran couldnt defeat the Iraq army for 8 lonf years,it took just weeks for the US to dismantle them.

So you think with all these dummy tests Iran stands a chance against US.

Iran will initially have all its armoured and aircraft units destroyed in the initial week of combat.

The fighting that continues after that will be medium intensity conflict much like that seen in the Al-Anbar province of Iraq but on a much larger scale. Remember that Iran has never been under global sanctions and have steadily rebuilt and greatly increased their capacity to fight low to medium intensity warfare.

The American military is already overstretched in Iraq and whatever action they take with Iran must take into account China which might make a move on Taiwan because American conflict with Iran won't be a quick 6 day war. I think the invasion of Iraq with rose petals being thrown at Americans has laid that idea to rest.

 

[Bull]

Iran will initially have all its armoured and aircraft units destroyed in the initial week of combat.

The fighting that continues after that will be medium intensity conflict much like that seen in the Al-Anbar province of Iraq but on a much larger scale. Remember that Iran has never been under global sanctions and have steadily rebuilt and greatly increased their capacity to fight low to medium intensity warfare.

The American military is already overstretched in Iraq and whatever action they take with Iran must take into account China which might make a move on Taiwan because American conflict with Iran won't be a quick 6 day war. I think the invasion of Iraq with rose petals being thrown at Americans has laid that idea to rest.

Sigatoka, i agree with you .i understand that the hardware can be easily destroyed while the low intensity conflict will continue to bleed US.but do u think they will send in troups to Iran,it will be woirse than Iraq then.

i think they will happy with making airstrikes like the gulfwar 1 and wait for Iraq to cool down and then go for the second round.

 

[RAPTOR]

Iran says it has successfully tested "top secret" missile
TEHRAN, APR 5 (AP)
Iran said today it has successfully test-fired a "top secret" missile, the third within a week, state-run television reported.
The report called the missile an "ultra-horizon" weapon and said it could be fired from all military helicopters and jet fighters. A brief video clip showed the missile, fired from a helicopter, hitting a target on the surface of the water.
The tests come during war games being held by the elite Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea since Friday at a time of increased tensions with the United States over Tehran's nuclear programme.
The television broadcast called the test a "turning point" in Iran's missile tests. It said the new missile does not require the OTHT (over the horizon targeting) system that other missiles must be equipped with to be able to make use of their maximum range.
The report said Iran is the first country to develop the technology for such a missile. Today's test follows that of two other missiles and two torpedoes since Friday. Iran has lauded these technological advances but the United States said Monday - after the second torpedo test - that while Iran may have made "some strides" in its military, it likely is exaggerating its capabilities.





---I just dont know what to believe coming out of Iran these days..Saber rattling perhaps?

 

[Bull]

---I just dont know what to believe coming out of Iran these days..Saber rattling perhaps?

What ever credibilty it had is being lost with these "successfull tests".

 

[RAPTOR]

Skeptics torpedo Iran's weapons claims
By Breffni O'Rourke

Western defense analysts are skeptical of Iranian claims to have developed new high-tech weapons equal to or even surpassing in capability those available to the world's leading military powers.

In annual war games that started in the Persian Gulf last week, the Iranians say they have tested an underwater sonar-evading missile capable of going 375km/h - three or four times as fast as conventional torpedoes. They also claim to have test-fired a multiple-warhead missile that can almost entirely evade radar.

Military analysts say they don't have enough hard information to
form a definitive view of the latest Iranian claims, but say they cannot be rejected out of hand.

London-based independent military consultant Alexandra Ashbourne said she would be "really surprised" if the Iranian claims are true. She singles out the rocket with alleged radar-avoiding qualities, called the Fajr-3.

"That's the kind of thing we [in the West] are having trouble with, and whether they have this incredible ... I mean we know they have some capabilities, but whether their capabilities are really as advanced as they would like us to believe is another matter," she said.

The ability of a rocket to avoid appearing on radar screens depends largely on the materials it's made of, she said. Modern carbon fiber or Kevlar materials are like hard and heat-resistant plastic, and reflect far fewer radar waves than metal does. Hence they leave a smaller radar "footprint".

The science of trying to make missiles, airplanes and even boats "invisible" to radar is called stealth technology. But Ashbourne said only partial invisibility of missiles has been achieved, as far as is known. "You can achieve stealth up to a point comparatively easily in this day and age, but according to the [Iranian] claims I have heard, they appear to be at Western or above-Western capability, and I would be really surprised [if this is true]," she said.

Overstating the technology?
Referring to the underwater missile, called the Hoot or Whale, Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps General Ali Fadavi told state television that no vessel can escape from this missile because of its speed.

Only Russia possesses an underwater rocket with such speed, he said, referring to the Shkval, which covers 100 meters per second and has a range of 6.9 kilometers. It's not known if the Hoot is based on the Shkval, or whether it is nuclear-capable.

Naval security analyst Jason Alderwick, of the International Institute for Security Studies in London, has studied video footage of the underwater missile released by the Iranian government, and is skeptical. "Certainly they seem to have undertaken some form of test, of some 'missilized' underwater projectile, but to go so far as to claim it is a credible, fully operational underwater missile I think is overstating [the matter] considerably," he said.

Alderwick pointed out that the best conventional torpedoes have a speed of about 110km/h, and that to get them to run at three or four times that speed through rocket power is no easy matter.

"There are significant problems in maneuvering the missile; the noise it would make it obvious as well; it is not very stealthy; there are really a plethora of issues that create problems when you are trying to develop high-speed underwater torpedoes," he said.

Another "massive problem" is range, Alderwick added. Pushing a rocket at high speed through a dense substance such as water means a high consumption of fuel. Russia's Shkval has a range of nearly 7km. There is no word on the Hoot's range, but assuming it is similar to the Shkval, this means such a rocket is only useful when opposing ships are at close quarters.

Alderwick pointed out two other weak points: the launching vessels are very vulnerable to air attack, for instance by helicopter gunships. Second, if the missile is to be used against submarines, as Iranian officials suggest, then it needs to be supported by a full anti-submarine warfare capability; the missile by itself is only a single part of the system.

Iran has promised further revelations of new weapons in the days ahead.

Copyright 2006 RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036.

 

[Neo]

If Iran is to export this missile, it could be an asset for PN.
We should try to lay our hands on it, even if its for study purpose.