(Luft) Iranische Raketensysteme

[Quintus Fabius]

Hier noch ein Artikel zu diesem System:

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On March 8, the Iranian defense ministry revealed a new strategic cruise missile—the Soumar.

New for Iran, that is. Named after a city destroyed during the Iran-Iraq War, the Soumar is a reverse-engineered copy of the Soviet-made Kh-55 cruise missile. But it’s one of the longest-range weapons Iran has—and comes with a fairly sophisticated guidance system.

Iranian state television recently aired footage from its unveiling ceremony, which depicted a mobile launcher capable of carrying five Soumar missiles.

The missile has a maximum range of up to 3,000 kilometers—marking a record for Iranian cruise missiles. If fired from Syria, it could possibly strike targets in southern Italy.

Tehran acquired at least six sample Kh-55s from Ukraine—allegedly through the black market—in 1996 for a price of $4.5 million.

The missile is also capable of carrying nuclear warheads—though Iran doesn’t have any, and doesn’t have the ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons small enough to fit.

It’s theoretically possible that Iran could install the Soumar on fighter jets—like the Tomahawk derivatives the U.S. designed to fit on F-16s. The AGM-158 JASSM is the current iteration of these American fighter-launched cruise missiles.

Don’t say Tehran … couldn’t. The Iranian air force has already installed land-attack versions of the Noor missile on its F-14, F-4 and Su-24 fighter jets.

And even with a shorter 2,500-kilometer range—without conformal fuel tanks—the Soumar is still deadly. Iran’s obsolete F-14, Su-24 and F-4 jets could fire their missiles toward an unspecified target in a pre-defined area—and do so from thousands of kilometers away.