On June 6, 2023, in the presence of Iran’s military-political leadership, a new ballistic missile with a supersonic, solid-fuel warhead, named Fattah was presented to the public
The weapon was developed and manufactured by experts from the Aerospace Forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s state news agency (IRNA) said.
According to published information, the range of the Iranian-made hypersonic missile is up to 1,400 km. At the end of the flight, the warhead has a speed of about Mach 13 – 15.
The warhead is equipped with its own engine with thrust control vector for maneuvering outside the atmosphere and an aerodynamic rudder for precise guidance and correcting of the flight path when approaching the target.
The missile flies and maneuvers at supersonic speeds, extremely difficult to intercept for existing air defense systems, even in the near future.
The IRNA document makes it clear that hypersonic missiles are among the newest types of weapons. Before that, only Russia, China and the US had the technology to create them. Now, Iran has entered the race.
“This missile is aimed at enemy anti-missile systems and is a huge step forward in the field of weapons,” General Sardar Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Forces, told university students. Science and Technology Iran.
Observers said that according to the characteristics of the new weapon announced in Tehran, the maximum speed for Iran’s hypersonic missiles far exceeds that of the Russian-made Kinzhal and Zircon – which are considered super weapons. The most profitable bar today.
Specifically, the declared parameter for Kinzhal is up to Mach 10, and while Zircon is about Mach 9. Moreover, Iranian rockets can fly into space, that is, reach an altitude of at least 100 km.
This is something that Russian missiles cannot do. If so, Iran, which has been under sanctions for decades, can easily emerge unexpectedly.
Besides, the issue of missile deployment is still a question, it will be interesting to talk about launching this missile from the ground, because then, Tehran’s “superior” over Moscow will be very significantly.
At the same time if we leave aside the suspicion of feature exaggeration, the scenario under which the Russian Federation transfers certain technologies to Iran is still quite realistic.
And of course Israel will be most worried about the newly announced information, because they are considered Iran’s main rival in the Middle East.
However, experts also say that more time is needed to verify what Iran claims, because this Middle Eastern country has a tradition of “overstating” about its military achievements.
For example, in the past, Iran has repeatedly said that it has built stealth fighters, air defense systems or tanks that are “superior” to Russian products, but then still have to buy those items from Moscow.
