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Rubin: Iran “Major Missile Power” in Region

Uzi Rubin, former head of Israel’s missile defense program, argues in a new study published by the Institute for National Security Studies that Iran is now “the major missile power” in the Middle East. “No other country in the world … comes close to Iran in the number and variety of ballistic missiles in development or already deployed,” Rubin writes. He lists Iran’s assets: Shahab-3 medium-range missiles, an “an indispensable complement to [Iran’s] nuclear ambitions”; Scud B and Scud C short-range missiles, manufactured “in considerable quantities”; Zelzal short-range missiles, which can target troop concentrations; the Raad, an advanced version of the Chinese Silkworm anti-ship cruise missile; and an assortment of smaller anti-tank missiles. “Every major city and military installation between the western shores of Turkey and the eastern border of Pakistan and between the Black Sea in the north and the southern narrows of the Red Sea are within range,” he writes. Moreover, Iran can now hit any point in the Middle East from well-protected, fixed silos “survivable against preemption.” He warns: “There should be no doubt that in case of conflict, Iran will launch Shahab-3 missiles regardless of their flight test record, and that some of them will reach their destinations.” Rubin adds that Iran is also developing satellites, and that any suitably modified space launch vehicle can serve as an intercontinental ballistic missile. At the rate they are going, “Iranian missiles will dominate the entire continent of Europe by the end of this decade,” he concludes. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Israel, Iran, Analysis

» Missile details: Shahab-6, Scud variant, Scud B/C/D variants, Zelzal-1/2/3

Iranian Commander Acknowledges Use of North Korean Scuds

Yahya Rahim Safavi, commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), recently acknowledged that the IRGC had procured Scud-B and Scud-C short-range ballistic missiles from North Korea during the Iran-Iraq War during the 1980s, reports David C. Isby in Jane’s Missiles and Rockets. While the supply of these missiles has been known for years, “the fact that a high-level official has drawn public attention to Iran’s missile-related relationship with North Korea may be significant.” In the past, Iran has frequently stressed that its weapon developments have been indigenous, even when this was patently not the case. “The new acknowledgement of past co-operation may reflect current indebtedness to North Korean technology in the development of the Shahab-3 ballistic missile or even weapons of mass destruction,” writes Isby (Link) 

» More stories on: Proliferation, North Korea, Iran, Analysis

India and Russia Aim BrahMos at Export Market

India and Russia aim to export the new BrahMos supersonic cruise missile to Persian Gulf, East Asian, and Latin American countries, reports the January 1, 2007, issue of Jane’s Defence Industry. According to Indian Defense Minister Arackaparambil Kurian Antony, the BrahMos has drawn “considerable interest” in these countries and has “tremendous market potential.” Antony added that “the Indian and Russian governments will make a joint decision on the countries to whom the missile will be exported.”
         The BrahMos, which derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moscow rivers in India and Russia, is based on the earlier Russian design for the SS-N-26 (3M55 Oniks) cruise missile. In 1998, a joint venture was set up between the Indian Defense Ministry’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia’s Mashinostroyeniye Company. The two entities formed a company now known as Brahmos Aerospace, which would develop and manufacture the BrahMos PJ-10. In September 2006, Jane’s reported that the Indian Navy had started deploying the BrahMos missile on its frontline warships, with the DRDO also working on development of a submarine-launched version that could be ready in two to three years. Jane’s also reported that the Indian Air Force will integrate the BrahMos missile onto its Su-30MKI multirole fighters by December 2007. (Link) 

» More stories on: Russia, Proliferation, India, Cruise Missiles

Kortunov: Russia Must Remain A Major Nuclear Power

Sergei Kortunov, chairman of Russia’s Foreign Policy Planning Committee, argues in RIA-Novosti that Russia must take steps to remain a major nuclear power for the foreseeable future. Kortunov expresses apprehension that the United States is attempting to defend itself against such weapons of mass destruction. “We must face the facts,” he states. “The United States will create the NMD system in the near future and completely dominate the world unless Russia’s nuclear policy adapts to the above-mentioned priorities.” The U.S. has also adopted “loose rules of engagement for using nuclear weapons in the event of a crisis and greater regional tensions,” and therefore Russia “has no choice but to remain a major nuclear power in the foreseeable future.” Kortunov specifies that Russia’s strategic nuclear forces in 2012 should include 600 ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles; ten to 12 ballistic missile submarines; 50 strategic bombers; and 1,000 to 1,200 nuclear warheads on intercontinental and submarine launched ballistic missiles. Such an arsenal would allow Moscow “to maintain its special strategic relationship with the United States and preserve its global political role,” Kortunov writes, adding that “we should study the possibility of resuming work on weapons and systems that can effectively breach or neutralize the U.S. ABM [anti-ballistic missile] system.” (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Russia, Nuclear Weapons

Russia Places First Three Topol-M Mobile Launchers in Service

Interfax reports that the Teykovskaya Division of the Russian Strategic Missile Troops has placed the first three mobile launchers of the Topol-M (SS-27) intercontinental ballistic missile system on “experimental combat duty.” According to an unidentified source, “Vehicles ensuring combat duty and other hardware intended to ensure the functioning of the system were also brought into service with the missile division together with the launchers of the Topol-M system.” The Topol-M incorporates modern fuel and warhead designs and is allegedly invulnerable to modern anti-ballistic missile defenses. Russia plans to make the Topol-M its primary strategic weapon after the older SS-18 Satan (RS-20), SS-19 Stiletto (RS-18), and SS-25 Sickle (RS-12M Topol) ICBMS are eventually phased out and removed from service. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Russia

» Missile details: SS-N-6

WSJ on Sea-Based X-Band Radar

Jonathan Karp in The Wall Street Journal recently profiled the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX), an advanced radar system mounted on a semi-submersible oil-drilling rig that is able to track, discriminate, and assess incoming ballistic missiles. “Shrouded in a 10-story-high dome,” Karp writes, “the SBX radar sits atop the semi-submersible oil rig like a giant golf ball on a tee. The Teflon-coated, Kevlar-like fabric of the inflated dome is designed to withstand winds up to 150 miles an hour. Inside, the radar soars toward the roof, its octagonal face covering 4,100 square feet.” The SBX, built by Raytheon, contains 45,000 electronic modules that transmit and receive data, he notes. It can send multiple beams in different directions, changing their aim in fractions of a second, which allows the radar to track several objects at once and compensate for the rig’s movement in ocean swells.
        Karp describes the program’s many high-tech breakthroughs. He notes that the SBX can “track a baseball hurtling through space at 15,000 miles an hour,” produce detailed images of incoming warheads, and “distinguish a decoy from the real McCoy.” The system is also highly mobile and can be deployed close to perceived threats, thus gaining precious time for U.S. interceptors to destroy incoming missiles. At the same time, Karp also describes a series of “technical snafus” surrounding the semi-submersible oil-drilling rig carrying the radar. In March 2006, a leaky valve caused water to flood into the SBX’s pontoon, forcing the rig to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs. In June, an electrical fault tripped circuit breakers, stranding the SBX in port for two more weeks of repairs. If all had gone according to plan, the SBX would be already deployed off the Aleutian Islands in Alaska ready to defend against threats from North Korea. Instead, the system remains in Hawaii, 2,000 km and many months away from its final destination, he writes.
        The radar, however, was performing well enough that the Pentagon used the SBX to monitor North Korea’s missile launch in July 2006. The Pentagon then delayed the system’s preparations for Alaska again so that the radar could participate in the September 1 ground-based interceptor test, the most important U.S. test to date. During this test, a target missile was fired from Alaska was destroyed by an interceptor missile launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Floating off the California coast, SBX successfully tracked both missiles and their warheads as they collided. Brigadier General Patrick O’Reilly, who now oversees the ground-based missile-defense program, referred to the test as a “watershed event,” because it demonstrated that SBX could do its job once integrated into the missile shield’s command structure. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Detection and Tracking, Sea-Based Systems

Pakistan Test Fires Short-Range Hatf-4

Pakistan today test-launched a nuclear-capable Hatf-4 (Shaheen-1) short-range ballistic missile, reports the AP. The official Pakistani military statement did not provide details of the test, although an unnamed defense official said the missile hit its target. According to the statement, the test was “part of the ongoing exercises of Pakistan Army’s Strategic Force Command,” and “marked the culmination phase of the training exercise and validated the operational readiness of the Strategic Missile Group … equipped with Shaheen-1 Missiles.” The road-mobile Hatf-4 is believed to be an improved version of the Chinese CSS-7 (M-11), itself a modified Scud. The Hatf-4 is believed to have a range of 750 km, and is designed to destroy strategic assets such as airports, oil refineries, shipyards, ports, and factories. Today’s test came just two days after India announced its first successful interception of a ballistic missile, using a Prithvi-2 missile to shoot down a second, incoming one. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Pakistan, Testing - Foreign

» Missile details: CSS-7, Hatf 4

Ivanov: U.S. BMD Meant to Weaken Russian Deterrance

U.S. plans to build a missile defense site in Eastern Europe are designed “to weaken Russia’s deterrence potential,” according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. U.S. officials are currently in negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic, and have indicated that the site is intended to defend Europe against ballistic missiles from rogue states such as Iran and North Korea. Yet Ivanov was recently quoted by Belarus’ Soyuznoye Gosudarstvo magazine as stating, “We are told that this system is allegedly intended to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles. But Iran has no missiles of this class and is unlikely to obtain them in the foreseeable future.” He continued: “The U.S.-declared threat, which can allegedly be countered by the system under development, is only an attempt to cover up efforts to change strategic stability and to weaken Russia’s deterrence potential.” Ivanov also said that deployment of part of the U.S. system near the border of Belarus would do nothing to boost security in Europe. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Former Soviet Republics, Russia

U.S. Navy Receives 100th Aegis Weapon System

Lockheed Martin yesterday delivered the 100th Aegis Weapon System to the U.S. Navy, marking a major milestone in the world’s premier sea-based multi-mission combat system. The destroyer receiving the system will be named Wayne E. Meyer, after the retired rear admiral who is widely regarded as the “Father of Aegis.” At present, the Aegis system is deployed on 80 ships around the globe with more than 25 additional ships planned or under contract. The Aegis Weapon System is the foundation for the Aegis sea-based ballistic missile defense system, which integrates Standard Missile-3 interceptors, the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, the SPY-1 radar, and the weapon system’s command and control system. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems

» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD

India Claims Successful Missile Interceptor Test

India has used a nuclear-capable Prithvi-2 medium-range ballistic missile to intercept another in a missile defense test, Indian defense officials claim. According to the defense ministry, India launched a modified Prithvi-2 simulating the “adversary’s missile” from the Chandipur test range about 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Bhubaneswar, capital of India’s Orissa state. The interceptor, also a Prithvi-2, was fired one minute later from the Wheeler’s Island missile testing center, located in the Bay of Bengal about 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of Bhubaneswar. A spokesperson for India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) told the BBC that the missiles intersected each other in mid-air about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the coast and then fell into the Bay of Bengal as planned.
        If the medium-range Prithvi-2 can be transformed into a viable defense system, it could upset India’s fragile balance of power with Pakistan, which on November 16 test launched its nuclear-capable Hatf-5 (Ghauri-1) medium-range ballistic missile. But Rahul Bedi of Jane’s Defence Weekly points out that India remains far from developing an effective missile interception system. “It’s not easy, India is light years away from developing anything like the American Patriot missile defense system which is designed to detect and destroy incoming missiles,” he told the BBC (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: India, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Testing - Foreign

» Missile details: Prithvi-1

Four U.S. Aegis Ships to Gain SM-3 Interceptors

The U.S. plans to install Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor on four of its Aegis-equipped warships deployed in Japan in an effort to boost regional missile defense following North Korea’s nuclear test. According to U.S. officials, two of the four ships will be refitted and deployed in the spring of 2007 at the earliest, followed by the other two. The plan would bring the total number of U.S. warships equipped with SM-3 interceptors to five. The cruiser Shiloh, which already has the system, was deployed to the Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture in August 2006. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Allies, Japan, Sea-Based Systems

» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense

Russia Begins Tor-M1 Deliveries to Iran

Russia has begun deliveries of the Tor-M1 air defense rocket system to Iran, according to Russian news sources. Itar-Tass quotes an unnamed, high-ranking Russian military industry source as stating, “Deliveries of the Tor-M1 have begun. The first systems have already been delivered to Tehran.” The Tor-M1 is a low to medium-altitude missile fired from a tracked vehicle against airplanes, helicopters, and other airborne targets. Itar-Tass reported that the rockets are to be deployed around Iran’s nuclear sites, including the still incomplete, Russian-built atomic power station at Bushehr. Moscow has consistently defended its arms exports to Iran. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said the contract for 29 Tor-M1 systems, signed in December last year, was legitimate because the rockets have a purely defensive role. The U.S., however, has pressed Russia to halt military sales to Iran, which Washington believes is building nuclear weapons. In August, the U.S. announced sanctions against several companies, including the major Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport, for supplying technology to Iran that could allegedly be used to develop missile technology and weapons of mass destruction. A spokesman for Rosoboronexport contacted by the AFP would not confirm or deny the reports about the Tor-M1 delivery. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Iran, Proliferation

India Test Launches Nuclear-Capable Prithvi-2 Missile

India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Prithvi-2 short-range ballistic missile today, reports the AP. According to an Indian official, the missile was launched from the Bay of Bengal from the test range in Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa. The test came three days after rival Pakistan carried out a similar test of its nuclear-capable Hatf-5 (Ghauri-1) medium-range ballistic missile. The Prithvi-2 is a road-mobile, liquid-propellant missile based on the Russian S-75 Guideline surface-to-air missile. It was first tested in 1996 and entered into the Indian Air Force in 1999. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: India, Testing - Foreign

» Missile details: Prithvi-1

Pakistan Test Launches Medium-Range Hatf-5

Pakistan today test launched its nuclear-capable Hatf-5 (Ghauri-1) medium-range ballistic missile, reports Reuters. According to military sources, the missile was launched from an undisclosed location to mark the end of a series of military exercises. The Hatf 5 has a range of 1,300 km (800 miles) and is easily capable of striking deep into India. It was first tested in 1998, the same year that Pakistan and India conducted their first nuclear tests, and last reported to have been tested in 2004. While previous tests were overseen by scientists, this time the Army Strategic Forces Command conducted the tests, military officials said. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: India, Pakistan, Testing - Foreign

» Missile details: Hatf 5A

India to Test Launch Sagarika Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile in 2008

India plans to test launch its Sagarika submarine-launched nuclear-capable cruise missile in early 2008, according to Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) sources. The Sagarika, which is being developed by the DRDO, is reported to have a range of 1,200 km and to be capable of delivering a 500 kg warhead. The DRDO sources indicated that the missile’s first prototype, which is powered by a solid fuel rocket booster and a turbojet engine, should be ready for a test flight by early 2008. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Cruise Missiles, India

Report: Russia Extends Lifetime of SS-18 ICBMs

Interfax reports that the Russia has extended the service lifetime of the SS-18 Satan (RS-20V) intercontinental ballistic missile. According to Colonel-General Nikolai Solovtsov, commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, the decision extends the original 15-year service lifetime of one of the world’s most powerful missiles to 25 years. The SS-18, which carries 10 individually targetable nuclear warheads, has been the heaviest missile in the Russian military’s inventory since its deployment began in the late 1980s. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Russia

» Missile details: SS-20

Russia Sends S-300P Systems to Belarus

The AFP reports that Russia has sent four S-300P (SA-10 Grumble) air/missile defense systems to Belarus, said to be in retaliation for the recent delivery of U.S.-made F-16 fighters to Poland. According to an unnamed source in the Moscow-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the four S-300 systems “have already been put into service” in Belarus. The S-300P is capable of tracking and destroying ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and low-flying aircraft.  (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Former Soviet Republics, Proliferation, Russia

» Missile system details for: S-300P (SA-10 Grumble)

Russia Test-Fires SS-19 Stiletto from Baikonur Cosmodrome

Russia today test-launched an SS-19 Stiletto (RS-18) intercontinental ballistic missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The missile reportedly carried a dummy warhead and hit its target at the Kura missile training range in Kamchatka, according to a spokesman from the Russian Space Forces. Russia has about 360 silo-based SS-19 missiles in operation, each with a range of 9,000 km and capable of carrying six warheads. (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign

» Missile details: SS-21 A

» Missile system details for: Baikonur Cosmodrome