| Country: |
Iran |
| Associated Country: |
China |
| Alternate Name: |
Sajjil-2, Ashoura |
| Class: |
IRBM |
| Basing: |
TEL |
| Length: |
18 m |
| Diameter: |
1.25 m |
| Launch Weight: |
20,000 kg |
| Payload: |
1000 |
| Warhead: |
750kg HE or nuclear |
| Propulsion: |
two stage solid |
| Range: |
2200 km |
| Status: |
Development |
| In Service: |
2012? |
Details
The Sajjil missile is a two stage, solid-propellant, intermediate-range ballistic missile domestically designed and built by Iran. It represents the culmination of Iranian weapons technology as it borrows heavily from the design and technology of the liquid-propelled Shahab missiles while integrating the solid-propellant technology of the Zelzal missiles.
Development of the Sajjil missile likely began in the late 1990s, but the program can hardly be understood apart from other Iranian missile programs whose development began much earlier. Most importantly, Iran began development on the Zelzal missiles in 1994 or 1995. The production of the Zelzal missiles required Iran to develop the domestic ability to produce composite solid-propellant in fairly large quantities. The technology and equipment used in Zelzal fuel production has almost definitely been used for the Sajjil missile project. It is believed that China aided Iran in the improvement of their solid-propellant production ability for the Zelzal missiles; it seems likely that China has also aided Iran in the production of fuel for the Sajjil missile.
At the same time that Iran was developing composite solid-propellant fuel, they were working with the North Korean No Dong 1 missile design to produce the Shahab 3. The Shahab 3 design was used by Iranian engineers to produce a number of domestic missile technologies - a major advance from earlier Shahab designs, which relied almost entirely on Russian and North Korean technology. The Shahab 3 variants have provided a number of advantages over the original North Korean design and proved that Iranian engineers can domestically design and produce improved warheads and SLVs. The Sajjil missile, internally quite different from the Shahab 3 missile (solid propellants require very different motors and internal design), probably borrows from a number of Shahab 3 technologies. At the very least, it is believed that the RV/nose cone design that first appeared in Shahab 3 variants has been used on the Sajjil missile.
Though the missile has a similar size, weight, payload, and range to the Shahab 3 variants, the fact that it is fuelled by solid-propellants is a huge improvement over the Shahab design. Solid propellants allow for a near-immediate launch time, leaving the missile much less vulnerable during launch. Because solid-propellant missiles do not have to be fuelled immediately prior to launch, they are also much more easily transported. On the other hand, solid propellant missiles have particular performance characteristics that make them more difficult to guide and control. How Iranian engineers have overcome these hurdles is unknown, but it seems likely that they have modified Shahab guidance systems and/or received considerable foreign assistance.
The Sajjil missile has a length of approximately 18 m, a diameter of 1.25 m, and an overall launch weight of about 20,000 kg. It probably carries a payload of about 1000 kg; a payload allowing it to carry an RV with a warhead weight of around 750 kg. Presumably the missile will carry HE warheads until Iran gains nuclear warheads. The missile's maximum range is probably about 2,200 km, though these figures are based upon a missile fuselage with the weight and performance characteristics of aeronautical-grade steel. Supposing that Iran had the technology to produce missiles built of maraging steel, titanium, or composite material, the missile would potentially be lighter and have an extended range upwards of 2,400 km.
The first test launch of a missile resembling the Sajjil missile took place in November 2007. This test missile, called Ashura or Ashoura, failed to perform correctly. The missile seems to have been renamed Sajjil and successfully tested in November 2008. In 2009, three flight tests were performed on a missile dubbed the Sajjil-2. These tests took place in May, September, and December. Some video footage has been provided of the Sajjil and Sajjil-2, but it is not whether the tests met all of the desired performance specifications. The reasons for name changes are also not entirely clear, but Iran is notorious for renaming missiles during various stages of their production.
The Sajjil missile appears to be a unique Iranian design. Though some speculation has tied the missile to the Chinese DF-11 and DF-15, the size and specifications of the missile suggest that the Iranian missile is unique. Unlike earlier Iranian systems, the missile also does not appear to be a copy of a previously-released North Korean missile. Of course, it is highly likely that the missile project, though of domestic design, has made significant gains through foreign assistance. Because the design is new, Iran will probably have to subject it to a great deal of testing before putting the missile into regular operation. Assuming that the Sajjil project moves at about the same speed as foreign missile development projects, Iran will probably not declare the missile operational until at least 2012.(1)
Footnotes
1. Iran’s Ballistic Missile Capabilities: A Net Assessment, an IISS Strategic Dossier, The International Institute for Strategic Studies, (East Sussex: Hastings Print, May 2010) 54-63; see also Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems, Issue 50, ed. Duncan Lennox, (Surrey: Jane's Information Group, January 2009) 71.
