Iran Tests Stealth-Capable Missiles

From the Global Security Newswire:

“Iran has fired three stealth-capable missiles at moving sea-based objects in a high-seas trial that unfolded as intended, the nation’s Revolutionary Guard said on Tuesday (see GSN, July 6).

Iran launched two missile types in a set of drills that followed an initial series of tests involving land-based targets, the nation’s Fars News Agency quoted Revolutionary Guard representative Col. Asghar Qelichkhani as saying. The Revolutionary Guard’s Aerospace Division completed two days of exercises early last week as part of the “Great Prophet 6” military drill.

“In the second and last phase, three advanced and radar-evading missiles from the Khalij-e-Fars (Persian Gulf) and Tondar (Thunder) class, which are smart and also optimized, were fired at the specified mobile naval targets,” Qelichkhani said. All weapons and technology tested in the drills were indigenously developed, he added (Fars News Agency, July 6).

Iranian state television indicated the two missile types had been employed in tandem against selected strike points, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Iran tested the land-based weapons — each suited for attacks on objects in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman — near the coastal city of Jask (Xinhua News Agency, July 6).

The Revolutionary Guard did not fully vet its assets in the recent tests, Fars News quoted the commander of the elite military force as saying following the exercises.

“Firing missiles from underground silos, hiding the missiles from the enemy, scattering missile stocks and using the element of surprise against the enemy … are issues that have been important for us and we have been working on them for several years … and a part of these capabilities were shown in the [Great Prophet] drills,” Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Monday (Fars News Agency).

The Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday declared its tests during the 10-day Great Prophet exercise to have been successful, Xinhua reported. Tehran last week announced it had “successfully” launched 14 short-, medium- and long-range missiles as part of the drill (see GSN, June 28; Xinhua News Agency).

Iran’s increasing military capabilities have dissuaded hostile powers from attacking the country over the last two to three years, Fars News quoted Jafari as saying. The official said his country’s retaliation against a strike could go beyond blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a critical strategic waterway.

Tehran is preparing to fully flex its military muscle in international waters, he said. “If the enemy attempts to threaten Iran outside the Strait of Hormuz the country has the power to retaliate and this strategy is currently on our agenda” (Fars News Agency).”

The full story is here.