Iran upgrades missile defense system

Iran has optimized its Russian-made, S-200 long-range missile defense system and reduced its firing time, an Iranian air force general said.

Brig. Gen. Farzad Esmaveeli told the semi-official Fars news agency Tuesday the quicker reaction time from detection to firing has enhanced the country's air defense capabilities, enabling it to defend larger areas from bomb attack. 

The system is capable of detecting objects within a 3,000-kilometer (1,864.2-mile) range, has the ability to adjust its altitude and can target aircraft heading to Iran from distances farther than Qatar or Afghanistan, the news agency said.

The missile defense system has medium- to high-altitude surface-to-air missiles. Each missile is powered by four solid-fuel, strap-on rocket boosters and uses radio illumination mid-course correction to fly toward a target with a terminal semi-active radar homing phase, the agency said.

Iran needless of foreign aid for repairing copters

The commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces says the country’s air force has achieved self-sufficiency in repairing helicopters.

“The [Islamic Republic of Iran] Army Aviation has reached a level of progress where it can repair its helicopters without any need for [assistance from] other countries,” Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said on Tuesday.

Pourdastan, who was visiting the Army Aviation’s base in Abyek, Qazvin Province, also praised the Iranian aerospace experts for their accomplishments

Over the past years, Iran has made important breakthroughs in its defense sector and unveiled a variety of domestically produced military equipment and systems, including tanks, sophisticated destroyers, submarines, unmanned aerial vehicles and advanced missile and radar systems.

The country has also held several military exercises to enhance the defense capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and equipment.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly assured other nations, especially its neighbors, that its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.

Iranian air defense units equipped with new generation of radar systems

The commander of the Khatam-ol-Anbiya Air Defense Base announces that Iranian air defense units have been equipped with new domestically manufactured radar systems.

In an interview with the Persian service of IRNA published on Sunday, Brigadier General Farzad Esmaeili said that the new generation of VHF and HF radar systems, which have been designed and manufactured by Iranian experts, are being used at air defense bases across the country.

He also said that Samen, Shahab, and Matla-ol-fajr radar systems are “completely indigenous” systems which are able to quickly identify and track small flying targets.

He added that the country’s air defense units are now able to track aircraft using various radar systems which can operate at various frequency ranges.

“If we had not acquired this expertise, we would have been doomed to defeat at the time of electronic warfare and would have not been able to identify many enemy aircraft,” he said.  

He went on to say that air defense units create layers of defense to protect the country’s sensitive facilities using radar systems and missile systems.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Esmaeili said that the projects to design and manufacture various medium-range and long-range air defense systems are well underway.

He also said that shoulder-fired missiles and low-altitude artillery systems, which can be used by air defense units, are being mass-produced in the country.

Iranian Media - Iran Displays Long-Range Ballistic Missile in Defense Exhibition

The Iranian Armed Forces showcased the country's latest defensive capabilities, including an advanced ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers.

           

Different types of tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, personnel carriers and light weapons are on display in "Yad-e Yaran Exhibition" in Tehran on the occasion of the Sacred Defense Week, commemorating Iranians' sacrifices during the 8 years of Iraqi imposed war on Iran in 1980s.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) achievements in aerospace fields have also been displayed in the exhibition, including different types of short, mid and long-range missiles as well as SAM (Surface-to-Air Missile) air defense systems were displayed in the exhibition.

Also, the exhibition has showcased one of Iran's latest achievements in ballistic missile industry, the 2000km-range, liquid-fuel, Qadr F ballistic missile which can reach territories as far as Israel.

On Friday, the Iranian Armed Forces displayed the country's latest home-made military tools, weapons and equipments in large military parades in Tehran.

During the parades, the Iranian armed forces displayed different weapons and military tools and equipment, including different kinds of fighters, choppers, drones, ground-to-ground missiles, air-to-ground missiles, surface-to-surface missiles, tactical and armed vehicles, surface and underwater vessels, electronic and telecommunication equipment, light and mid-light weapons, different kinds of artillery and mortar-launchers, air defense systems and engineering and logistic equipment.

The Iranian Armed Forces have recently test-fired different types of newly-developed missiles and torpedoes and tested a large number of home-made weapons, tools and equipments during massive military drills.

Defense analysts and military observers say that Iran's wargames and its advancements in weapons production have proved as a deterrent factor, specially at a time of heightened threats by the US.

Iran tests missiles, unveils drone amid Israel tensions

Iran has tested anti-air and anti-ship missiles and unveiled a new drone, its powerful Revolutionary Guards said on Monday, in a show of military readiness for a war with Israel their chief says is inevitable.

Medium-range surface-to-air missiles designed to knock attacking aircraft out of the sky at a range of 50 kilometers (30 miles) were successfully fired on Monday, the Guards said in a statement on their official Sepahnews website.

The new, Taer-2 missiles were part of an anti-air defense system known as Ra'ad (Thunder), the statement said.

The Fars news agency called the domestically made missiles "more advanced" than the Russian-made Buk family of missiles they were based on.

Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, the commander of the Guards' navy, also said that on Sunday a naval drill was held in which four missiles hit a warship-sized target, sinking it in 50 seconds, according to Fars.

"We have missile systems that cover all the Persian Gulf coasts and the American bases [in the region]," he was quoted as saying.

He added that the Revolutionary Guards would in the next six months hold "big naval maneuvers in the Strait of Hormuz," the strategic, narrow channel at the Gulf's entrance through which a third of the world's seaborne traded oil passes.

Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Guards' aerospace division charged with missile defense, also announced a new drone, dubbed Shahed 129, with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles).

"It is able to carry bombs and missiles... it has the ability to fly non-stop for 24 hours, it does surveillance," Fars quoted him as saying.

State television showed images of the unmanned aircraft.

On Saturday, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said war between Iran and Israel "will eventually happen, but it is not certain where and when."

It was the first time a senior Iranian official had acknowledged the probability of war breaking out between the two arch-foes.

Israel in recent weeks has ratcheted up its threats to possibly launch air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, with or without help from its US ally.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards commanders have said they would view any Israeli attack as being carried out with US authorization, and warned they would hit US military bases in Afghanistan, Qatar and Bahrain in retaliation.

Hajizadeh told Iran's Al-Alam television network on Sunday that an Israel-Iran war would be unpredictable - "and it will turn into World War III" as other countries were sucked into it.

The disconcertingly bellicose language from the Revolutionary Guards contrasted with the stated position of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, which has publicly dismissed Israel's threats as a bluff.

Ahmadinejad, in New York for a UN General Assembly, reiterated that stance in interviews with US media.

"While the Iranian people are ready to defend ourselves, I don't believe the [Israeli] threats are of fundamental importance," he told US media bosses in a meeting on Monday.

Israel, the Middle East's sole though undeclared nuclear weapons state, views Iran's nuclear program as a threat to its existence and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has strongly intimated he could order strikes against Iranian facilities.

Iran has repeatedly denied Western suspicions it is seeking nuclear weapons capability, insisting its atomic program is exclusively for peaceful, civilian uses.

Joke of the Month (Third place) - Iranian Terrorist State Media - Iran successfully test-fires Ra’d anti-aircraft system

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has successfully test-fired the country’s latest domestically-manufactured anti-aircraft missile system.

 The mid-range missile system, called Ra'd, is equipped with Taer 2 missiles and can intercept targets at a range of 50 kilometers and fly at an altitude of 75,000 feet.

    The indigenous system has been manufactured to confront advanced US jet fighters.

The IRGC on Friday displayed Ra’d air defense system during the parade of the Iranian Armed Forces in the capital city, Tehran, marking the 32nd anniversary of eight years of defense against Iraq's invasion of the country under executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Ra’d is the optimized version of the Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile system.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in the defense sector and gained self-sufficiency in essential military hardware and defense systems, proving that the US-led illegal sanctions on the Iranian military industry have been ineffective.

Iran has repeatedly stated that its military might poses no threat to other countries, reiterating that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.

Arrow 3 Test Postponed due to Unknown Problem

Missile system is supposed to defend against possible Iranian ballistic missile strike but has never been tested in battle.

The next trial of the Arrow 3, Israel's main future anti-missile defense weapons system, has been postponed for an unexplained reason, according to a report in the US weekly Space News quoted by Globes.

Development of the Arrow 3 missile is already one year behind schedule. According to the "Space News' report, the flight trial that had been planned for this month has now been postponed until the end of the year.

Arrow 3 technical staff declined to specify the reason for the delay but it is reportedly "believed to be serious" because the missile has been returned from its launcher to an installation belonging to Israel Aerospace Industries, for repairs.

A Pentagon source told "Space News" that the flight trial, that was meant to be the first in the development of the Arrow 3, has been postponed "because of additional necessary work to solve a problem."

The Director of the Defense Ministry's Israel Missile Defense Organization, Yair Ramati, reportedly updated the U.S. Missile Defense Agency chief Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly about the latest problem at a conference in Berlin last week.

This was to be the first test of all the Arrow-3 systems. Subsystems have already been tested, reported UPI.

The two-stage missile being developed by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries and the Boeing Co. of the United States will be Israel's main line of defense against Iran's growing arsenal of immediate-range Shehab-3 missiles and the more advanced Sejjil-2 weapons under development

 The Arow-3 can reach twice the altitude of Arrow-2 and its second stage has its own propulsion unit that enables it to maneuver toward its target.

The Pentagon, which provides much of the funding for the joint program and has been seeking to persuade U.S. legislators that it's worth Congress investing taxpayers' money in the project, says Arrow-3 will be able to provide four times the coverage of Arrow-2.

According to UPI, Itzhak Kaya, who heads the Arrow program, said that recent testing involved simulated interceptions to evaluate Arrow-3's detection capabilities.

Neither of the first two Arrow variants has been used on combat and there have been concerns about its ability to counter a heavy salvo of Shehab or Sejjil missiles.

Uzi Rubin, considered one of the pre-eminent missile system analysts in the Middle East, recently said Arrow could cope with any missile fired by the Iranians.

"I can't say that every incoming will be known down," he told IDF Radio. "There isn't 100 percent protection and not everything is a success.

"But for every single missile coming from Iran there's a single Arrow missile capable of intercepting it one for one."

Rubin, a former air force brigadier general, was head of Israel's Missile Defense Organization in 1991-99 and oversaw development of the Arrow series.

"Iran has between 300 and 400 Shehab-3 missiles it can fire at Israel," he said.

Rubin added that Iran's aerospace industry has significantly improved the Shehab's accuracy from "a marked target that could cover a few kilometers to just a few hundred meters."

That, according to the report, "would make the Iranian missiles a much greater threat to Israeli airbases and military installations, as well as the national infrastructure, than previously thought."