Iran claims possession of unstoppable hypersonic missile
Iran claims to have developed a hypersonic missile that is unstoppable by all current anti-air defences.
General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC’s) Aerospace Force, said Thursday that Tehran now possesses a ballistic missile that moves at ‘high speed and can manoeuvre in and out of the atmosphere’, making it harder to shoot down.
General Hajizadeh said the missile is designed to target enemy anti-air systems and is a ‘generational leap’ forward in terms of Tehran’s military technology.
Until now, only Russia was known to possess hypersonic technology. China is thought to have tested a similar weapon last year, while the US is also in testing.
North Korea has shown off what appear to be hypersonic missiles at military parades but it is unclear if the technology is functional. Iran had not publicly acknowledged working on such a weapon before now.
Though the term ‘hypersonic’ is loosely defined, it is generally used to refer to a high-speed, highly manoeuvrable weapon that can be guided to a target.
The missiles do this either using ‘scramjet’ technology, which boosts them within the atmosphere to faster than the speed of sound, or by exiting the atmosphere and then skimming on top of it which also boosts their speed.
In Russia’s case, these weapons are Kinzhal missiles fired from its jets and Avangard ‘glide vehicles’ which Moscow says are fitted to its new Sarmat nukes.
China is thought to have tested its own ‘glide vehicle’ this time last year and North Korea has shown off what appear to be ‘glide vehicles’ at its parades, though it is unclear if they actually work.
America is known to have tested both scramjets and glide vehicle technology but has not publicly acknowledged building a weapon using the tech.
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Russia has used Kinzhal missiles in Ukraine, but glide vehicle technology is as-yet untested in combat.
‘This hypersonic ballistic missile was developed to counter air defence shields,’ Hajizadeh said, quoted by Iran’s Fars news agency.
‘It will be able to breach all the systems of anti-missile defence,’ said the general, adding that he believed it would take decades before a system capable of intercepting it is developed.
‘This missile, which targets enemy anti-missile systems, represents a great generational leap in the field of missiles.’
The announcement comes after Iran admitted on Saturday that it had sent drones to Russia, but said it had done so before the Ukraine war.
The Washington Post reported on October 16 that Iran was preparing to ship missiles to Russia, but Tehran rejected the report as ‘completely false’.
It also comes at a time of protests that have rocked Iran since the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest for allegedly flouting the Islamic republic’s dress code for women.
Both Iran and Russia are targeted by stringent sanctions – Iran after the US unilaterally pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, and Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February.
The two countries have responded to the sanctions by boosting cooperation in key areas to help prop up their economies.
Iran on Wednesday hosted Russia’s Security Chief, Nikolai Patrushev, for talks on subjects that the Russian side said included ‘the fight against terrorism and extremism’ as well as measures to counter Western interference.
A hypersonic missile is manoeuvrable, making it harder to track and defend against.
While countries like the United States have developed systems designed to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles, the ability to track and take down a hypersonic missile remains a question.
Thursday’s announcement comes against a backdrop of stalled talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.
The deal reached with six major powers, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for guarantees it could not develop an atomic weapon.
Iran has always denied wanting a nuclear arsenal.
The deal collapsed after the US’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump.
It also follows Iran’s announcement on November 5 of the successful test flight of a rocket capable of propelling satellites into space.
The United States has repeatedly voiced concern that such launches could boost Iran’s ballistic missile technology, extending to the potential delivery of nuclear warheads.
In March, the US government imposed sanctions on Iran’s missile-related activities.
It said at the time that the punitive measures followed ‘Iran’s recent missile attack on Erbil, Iraq, as well as missile attacks by Iranian proxies against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates’.
Iran on Wednesday warned its neighbours including Saudi Arabia that it would retaliate against moves to destabilise it amid the protests sparked by Amini’s death.
‘I would like to say to Saudi Arabia that our destiny and that of other countries in the region are linked to each other,’ Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib said.
‘Iran has so far adopted strategic patience but it cannot guarantee that it will maintain this strategic patience if hostilities against it continue.
‘If the Islamic republic decides to punish these countries, their glass palaces will collapse and they will no longer enjoy stability,’ said Khatib.
The minister has also warned Britain it would ‘pay’ for harbouring hostile Persian-language media reporting on the Amini protests.
It came after the Revolutionary Guards were accused this week of issuing death threats against two journalists working for London-based Iran International Television.
The Saudi-linked channel’s owner, Volant Media, said British police had warned them of ‘credible threats to their lives’.
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