Addressing a group of reporters on Wednesday, General Vahidi announced that the new generation of Fateh-110 is a 250-kilometer surface-to-surface ballistic missile, with 1) increased range, 2) increased precision, 3) less preparation time required and 4) a faster launch.
The Fateh missile is nine meters (29 feet) long and weighs 3,500 kilograms (7,700 pounds).
Photos:
click to enlarge
Video:
Photos: Vahid Reza Alayi at JameJamOnline.ir
Video: aminiranform
5 comments:
Re:"...2) increased precision..."
Those western "think tank" guys all try to argue against just this, so any "efficient" Iranian warhead couldn't be anything but nuclear.
A sat/carrier-killer Iran wouldn't parade (nuclear China hardly got away with it) but I really thought they would show the missing link of an Iranian S-300/400, a mobile solid-fueled long-range hypersonic anti-aircraft(/-ball.missile) missile, this time... and the Qae(e)m of course!
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A better video :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiKvgWIAHHM
After a bit less speculation and a little more scrutiny, one possible explanation for the "mystery" Qiam would read as follows:
1) "regression" towards liquid fuel (LF)
A) it's an experimental model and mature versions will be solid-fueled (SF)?
B) it needs to be throttled and, as pointed out by an astute commenter, liquid fuel is more suitable for this purpose although not exactly impossible with SF... besides, you can use a multi-staged/-fueled missile
C) LF has a less detectable exhaust trail
2) no base fins (air-vanes), so steering would be by Thrust Vectoring (TV) with jet-vanes (no alternative gimbals or exhaust injection visible in the video!)
A) more suitable for storage in silo or submarine (NOT applicable here, I think)
B) very important if just before ground impact a 10m-plus long missile must be steerable with TV at its base (where the fins would be... and would break off when a lateral thrust would be applied in the dense atmosphere just above ground)
3) some believe the Qiam has a Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle (MRV) steered with one or more Vernier engines but why then bother to delete the standard base fins on the first stage which gets ditched anyway before or soon after reentry ?!
So, adding this all up: Qiam's main purpose is experimenting with terminal steering to a ground target with the LF engine at full throttle (but with a less detectable exhaust trail) following the middle throttled-down coasting phase and the initial full-throttled boost phase. In this sense it would be the big brother (with longer range and also deployable in space) of the already solid-fueled Fateh and a possible hypersonic alternative to developing supersonic cruise-missiles like India does.
Although the Iranians managed to steer a satellite into space, they don't appear to be able or inclined to mass-produce MRV's yet.
Aside from the warhead a MRV would produce a lesser BANG than a 10m-plus long missile but this is offset by its much smaller Radar Cross Section.
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After a bit less speculation and a little more scrutiny, one possible explanation for the "mystery" Qiam would read as follows:
1) "regression" towards liquid fuel (LF)
A) it's an experimental model and mature versions will be solid-fueled (SF)?
B) it needs to be throttled and, as pointed out by an astute commenter, liquid fuel is more suitable for this purpose although not exactly impossible with SF... besides, you can use a multi-staged/-fueled missile
C) LF has a less detectable exhaust trail
2) no base fins (air-vanes), so steering would be by Thrust Vectoring (TV) with jet-vanes (no alternative gimbals or exhaust injection visible in the video!)
A) more suitable for storage in silo or submarine (NOT applicable here, I think)
B) very important if just before ground impact a 10m-plus long missile must be steerable with TV at its base (where the fins would be... and would break off when a lateral thrust would be applied in the dense atmosphere just above ground)
3) some believe the Qiam has a Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle (MRV) steered with one or more Vernier engines but why then bother to delete the standard base fins on the first stage which gets ditched anyway before or soon after reentry ?!
So, adding this all up: Qiam's main purpose is experimenting with terminal steering to a ground target with the LF engine at full throttle (but with a less detectable exhaust trail) following the middle throttled-down coasting phase and the initial full-throttled boost phase. In this sense it would be the big brother (with longer range and also deployable in space... as a satkiller?) of the already solid-fueled Fateh and a possible hypersonic alternative to developing supersonic cruise-missiles like India does.
Although the Iranians managed to steer a satellite into space, they don't appear to be able or inclined to mass-produce MRV's yet.
Aside from the warhead a MRV would produce a lesser BANG than a 10m-plus long missile but this is offset by its much smaller Radar Cross Section.
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Sorry, I should've stopped after the first error... which wasn't really an error apparently!
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