Tehran on 11 August announced that it had tested an upgraded version of its Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile. The test came just two weeks after Israel's Arrow anti-missile system - designed to negate the Shahab threat - shot down an actual 'Scud' missile for the first time in an exercise meant to validate its growing capabilities.

While senior Iranian defence officials said the Shahab field exercise - it was not an actual flight test - was meant to assess the performance of new components that engineers have integrated into the missile, they acknowledged that its timing was no accident.

"The Israelis are trying hard to improve the [capability] of their [Arrow] missiles and we are also trying to improve the Shahab-3 in a short time," said Iranian Defence Minister Rear Adm Ali Shamkhani on 7 August while disclosing the pending test. The improvements to the missile "not only concern its range, but other specifications as well", he noted.

Regional intelligence sources told JDW that these enhancements include guidance equipment of Chinese origin to improve the missile's accuracy. US intelligence sources could not confirm this claim as JDW went to press.

The baseline Shahab-3 is believed to have a range approaching 1,300km - enough to strike Israel. There is no information that the improvements include penetration aids that could help the missile evade the Arrow's interceptors.

The sequence of Arrow-Shahab testing comes amid the backdrop of the continuing crisis over Iran's alleged clandestine nuclear weapon programme. Iran has said it would strike at Israel with its ballistic missiles if Israel attacks its nuclear facilities.

link

Scenario:

Israel bombs into rubble Iran's nuclear facility

Iran retaliates by launching Shahab-3 missiles

Israeli Arrow missiles intercept Shahab missiles but only 50% success rate

Many Israeli facilities destroyed and civilians killed

Israel ups the ante by bombing Iranian military bases and missile launch facilities

What will happen next?


:bounce:

Iran strikes back with their F-14s and F-5s (??) but all are shot down :D

Tensions escalate --

Iran is threatening to strike Israel's nuke facilities:

Full story

Israel's enemies are no longer as helpless as before.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08175848.htm

TEHRAN, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Iran threatened on Monday to strike back at Israel or any other country that attacked its nuclear facilities.

U.S. and Israeli officials accuse Iran of seeking to develop atomic bombs under cover of a civilian nuclear programme. Iran denies the charges saying it only intends to produce electricity from nuclear power plants.

"If Israel or any other country attacks any site in Iran, we know no limits to threaten their interests," Deputy Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad-Baqer Zolqadr said.

"That means anywhere in the world, within their borders or outside it," he told reporters on Monday on the sidelines of an anti-U.S. conference in Tehran.

Israeli warplanes successfully destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981. Iran has stationed anti-aircraft batteries around its nuclear plants and built many of its facilities underground.

Iranian officials have also warned they can strike back at Israel with its medium-range Shahab-3 missile, which can also hit U.S. military bases in the Gulf.

Zolqadr denied Iran was developing nuclear weapons, saying the Islamic state preferred to rely on a volunteer militia force, which he said numbered 10 million, to defend the country.

Earlier the commander addressed high-school students at a conference entitled "The World Without America".

British dossier argues against a military strike on Iran

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has drawn up a report stating Britain's case against a military strike on Iran.

According to media reports, in his 200 page dossier Straw argues against an attack on Iran amidst rising fears that President Bush may seek support for this new conflict.

In his report, Straw argues for a "negotiated solution" rather than a military one to halt Iran's suspected ambitions to produce nuclear weapons. Straw believes that "a peaceful solution led by Britain, France and Germany is in the best interests of Iran and the international community," at the same stating the European countries intentions in "safeguarding Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear technology."

Reportedly, the dossier entitled Iran's Nuclear Programme, was quietly issued in the House of Commons on the eve of Bush's inauguration last week for fear of provoking a public rift with Washington.

Furthermore, it appears that relations between the two allies are not as rosy as previously perceived, with tensions running high between them.

The Iran report marks a sharp shift in strategy by the Labour government which in the run-up to the war in Iraq had produced two dossiers trumpeting the case to join the U.S. led invasion.

As further proof of their lack of desire in joining another war in the Middle East, British Prime Minister Tony Blair will reinforce his governments views to Bush when the two leaders meet up in Brussels, Belgium next month and at an Anglo-American summit to be held in Washington some time after the May general election.

It's believed that Straw will also push forward Britain's case to U.S. Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice, a very close Bush confidante, when the pair meet up in London next month.

The growing suspicions that the United States is dead set on embarking on a military confrontation with Iran, grew after the publication of Seymour Hersh's report on American commandos operating inside Iran since mid-2004.

Even though the Pentagon attacked the report saying it was "riddled with errors of fundamental fact", no explicit denial of the covert operations were ever made.

American Vice-President Dick Cheney also waded into the Iranian issue by attempting to deflect attention away from the White House's plans of possibly attacking Iran. He warned that Israel could be the country that launches a pre-emptive strike on its own in an attempt to shut down Iran's nuclear program.

http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_serv...service_id=6835

The U.S. Air Force is playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Iran's ayatollahs, flying American combat aircraft into Iranian airspace in an attempt to lure Tehran into turning on air defense radars, thus allowing U.S. pilots to grid the system for use in future targeting data, administration officials said.

"We have to know which targets to attack and how to attack them," said one, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The flights, which have been going on for weeks, are being launched from sites in Afghanistan and Iraq, and are part of Bush administration attempts to collect badly needed intelligence on Iran's possible nuclear weapons development sites, these sources said, speaking on condition of strict anonymity.

"These Iranian air defense positions are not just being observed, they're being 'templated,'" an ad ministration official said, explaining that the flights are part of a U.S. effort to develop "an electronic order of battle for Iran" in case of actual conflict.

However, a Pentagon spokesman told UPI he was unaware of any such actions.

"We are not aware of any incursions into Iranian air space," said Cdr. Nick Balice, chief of media at the U.S. Central Command.

In the event of an actual clash, Iran's air defense radars would be targeted for destruction by air-fired U.S. anti-radiation or ARM missiles, he said.

A serving U.S. intelligence official added: "You need to know what proportion of your initial air strikes are going to have to be devoted to air defense suppression."

A CentCom official told United Press International that in the event of a real military strikes, U.S. military forces would be using jamming, deception, and physical attack of Iran's sensors and its Command, Control and Intelligence (C3 systems).

He also made clear that that this entails "advance, detailed knowledge of the enemy's electronic order of battle and careful preplanning."

Ellen Laipson, president and CEO of the Henry L. Stimson Center and former CIA Middle East expert, said of the flights, "They are not necessarily an act of war in themselves, unless they are perceived as being so by the country that is being overflown."

Laipson explained: "It's not unusual for countries to test each other's air defenses from time to time, to do a little probing -- but it can be dangerous if the target country believes that such flights could mean an imminent attack."

She said her concern was that Iran "will not only turn on its air defense radars but use them to fire missiles at U.S. aircraft," an act which would "greatly increase tensions" between the two countries.

The air reconnaissance is t aking place in conjunction with other intelligence collection efforts, U.S. government officials said.

To collect badly needed intelligence on the ground about Iran's alleged nuclear program, the United States is depending heavily on Israeli-trained teams of Kurds in northern Iraq and on U.S.-trained teams of former Iranian exiles in the south to gather the intelligence needed for possible strikes against Iran's 13 or more suspected nuclear sites, according to serving and retired U.S. intelligence officials.

Both groups are doing cross border incursions into Iran, some in conjunction with U.S. Special Forces, these sources said.

They claimed the Kurds operating from Kurdistan, in areas they control. The second group, working from the south, is the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, listed by the State Department as a terrorist group, operating from southern Iraq, these sources said.

The use of the MEK for U.S.-intelligence-gathering missions strikes some former U.S. intelligence officials as bizarre. The State Department's annual publication, "Patterns of Global Terrorism," lists them as a terrorist organization.

According to the State Department report, the MEK were allies with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in fighting Iran and, in addition, "assisted Saddam in "suppressing opposition within Iraq, and performed internal security for the Iraqi regime."

After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003, U.S. forces seized and destroyed MEK munitions and weapons, and about 4,000 MEK operatives were "consolidated, detained, disarmed, and screened for any past terrorist acts, the report said.

Shortly afterwards, the Bush administration began to use them in its covert operations against Iran, former senior U.S. intelligence officials said.

"They've been active in the south for some time," said former CIA counterterrorism chi ef, Vince Cannistraro.

The MEK are said to be currently launching raids from Camp Habib in Basra, but recently Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff granted permission for the MEK to operate from Pakistan's Baluchi area, U.S. officials said.

Asked about the Musharaff decision, Laipson said: "Not a smart move. The last thing he (Musharaff) needs is another batch of hotheads on Pakistani soil."

A former senior Iranian diplomat told United Press International that the Kurds in the Baluchi areas of Pakistan can operate in freedom because the Baluchis "have no love for the mullahs of Iran."

In fact, in the early 1980s, there were massacres of Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the area by Baluchi militants who wish to be independent, he said.

Both covert groups are tasked by the Bush administration with planting sensors or "sniffers" close to suspected Iran nuclear weapons development sites that will enable the Bush administration to monitor the progress on the program and develop targeting data, these sources said.

"There is an urgent need to obtain this information, at least in the minds of administration hawks," an administration official said.

"This looks to be turning into a pretty large-scale covert operation," a former long-time CIA operator in the region told UPI. In addition to the air strikes on allegedly Iranian nuclear weapons sites, the second aim of the operation is to secure the support in Iran of those "who view U.S. policy of hostility towards Iran's clerics with favor," he said.

The United States is also attempting to erect a covert infrastructure in Iran able to support U.S. efforts, this source said. It consists of Israelis and other U.S. assets, using third country passports, who have created a network of front companies that they own and staff. "It's a covert infrastructure for material support," a U.S. administration official said.

The network would be able to move money, weapons and personnel around inside Iran, he said. The covert infrastructure could also provide safe houses and the like, he said.

Cannistraro, who knew of the program, said: "I doubt the quality of these kinds or programs," explaining the United States had set up a similar network just before the hostage-rescue attempt in 1980. "People forget that the Iranians quickly rolled up that entire network after the rescue attempt failed," Cannistraro said.

The administration's fear is that by possessing a nuclear weapon, Iran will gain a new stature and status in the region strengthening its determination to remove the U.S presence from the region and making its hostility seem more credible, U.S. officials said.

There is also the administration's fear that Iran, with Syria's help, will accelerate Palestinian terrorism as Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, these sources said.

So the United States, backed by Israel, is deadly earnest about neutralizing Iran's nuclear weapons site. "The administration has determined that there is no diplomatic solution," said John Pike, president of the online think-tank globalsecurity.org.

"Like the Israelis, the Bush administration has decided that forces of sweetness and light won't be running Iran any time soon, and that having atomic ayatollahs is simply not acceptable."

Said Cannistraro of the administration's policy: "Its very, very, very dangerous."

Source

Unidentified jet fires 12 missiles in Iran- Iran attacked www.jang.com.pk/thenews

Unidentified jet fires 12 missiles in Iran
(Updated at 1910 PST)
TEHRAN: A huge explosion has occurred in the Iranian city of Daylam.

According to Iranian TV an unidentified jet has dropped a missile however no reports of casualties have so far been received. Iran has also retaliated by firing anti-aircraft guns.

Iran’s nuclear installations are also located in Daylam however the target of the aircraft is yet to be ascertained and the country from which the aircraft came is also unidentified. It must be clarified that Iran is constructing its atomic powerhouse in Daylam while the US claims that Iran is preparing nuclear weapons there.

-------the Isrelis have done it again :demon:

Iran claims the explosion was caused by maintenance work and not by missile attacks.

They are also using drones or unmanned aircraft to do the surveillance. They were already sighted and some Iranians thought it were UFOs, in fact these were spy aircrafts that conducts the plotting for the exact location of the nuclear facilities.

Although the Iranians did not deny the existence but fell short of admitting that it is for military purposes, and the Americans want to zero down their location so that it can be programmed to their system for future attack just in case Iran would remain defiant to end it's proliferation.

Iran Launches Production of First Locally Built Submarine

May 12, 2005, 11:00

More International Military news and information:
http://www.defencenews.info

Iran has begun producing its first locally built submarine, state media reported May 11, saying the vessel was designed to remain undetected and fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.

The craft will boost Iran’s inventory of submarines patrolling Gulf waters that according to foreign military experts includes up to six Russian-built SSK or SSI Kilo class diesel submarines.

The defense ministry said the new submarine is called the Ghadir — a religious holiday to mark the day Shiite Muslims believe the prophet Mohammad anointed Imam Ali as his successor.

The vessel, a prototype of which is undergoing tests, is designed for rapid deployment, said the ministry, which gave no further details.

URL of this article:
http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/article_002390.shtml

Inside Iran's Secret War for Iraq

A TIME investigation reveals the Tehran regime's strategy to gain influence in Iraq--and why U.S. troops may now face greater dangers as a result
By MICHAEL WARE/BAGHDAD

Posted Monday, Aug. 15, 2005

The U.S. Military's new nemesis in Iraq is named Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani, and he is not a Baathist or a member of al-Qaeda. He is working for Iran. According to a U.S. military-intelligence document obtained by TIME, al-Sheibani heads a network of insurgents created by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps with the express purpose of committing violence against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. Over the past eight months, his group has introduced a new breed of roadside bomb more lethal than any seen before; based on a design from the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hizballah, the weapon employs "shaped" explosive charges that can punch through a battle tank's armor like a fist through the wall. According to the document, the U.S. believes al-Sheibani's team consists of 280 members, divided into 17 bombmaking teams and death squads. The U.S. believes they train in Lebanon, in Baghdad's predominantly Shi'ite Sadr City district and "in another country" and have detonated at least 37 bombs against U.S. forces this year in Baghdad alone.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...00.html?cnn=yes

looking for trouble...inviting disaster.

time to call in steven seagal......


Iran to have nuclear bomb in six months, says Israel
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem and Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 21 September 2005


Israel is seeking to rally international support for a tough United Nations stand against Iran's nuclear ambitions with a warning that it could have the knowledge to produce a nuclear bomb "within six months".

As Israel tried to stiffen resolve among the members of the International Atomic Energy Agency who are meeting in Vienna, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urged the US to take the lead in ensuring Iran was brought before the UN Security Council "as soon as possible".

Mr Sharon told Fox News that Iran was "afraid of a Security Council meeting and sanctions that might be taken against them".

Mr Sharon appeared to indicate that Israel was not contemplating a unilateral military strike on a nuclear plant in Iran, of the sort it carried out on the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981. While acknowledging that Israel cannot "live with" Iran as a nuclear military power, he added: "I don't think [it] is the sole responsibility of Israel. I think this only can be an international pressure on Iran."

But Mr Sharon underscored the urgency of concerted international pressure on Iran by declaring that when Iran solved "technical problems" in developing a nuclear weapon "we then will reach a point of no return". Without giving evidence, Sylvan Shalom, Israel's Foreign Minister, implied that it could be as early as next year. He told a meeting of Jewish leaders in New York: "According to our people, security and intelligence, they are very, very close. It may be only six months before they will have that full knowledge."

The public diplomacy by Israel came amid reports that the EU had circulated a draft resolution for the IAEA, seeking to report to the Security Council "Iran's many failures and breaches of its obligations to comply with its Nuclear Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement". Iran has threatened to re-start uranium enrichment and to reconsider inspections of its facilities if it was referred to the Security Council.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10298179/

Reports: Russia agrees to sell missiles to Iran
$1 billion deal expected to draw heat from U.S.

Associated Press
Updated: 6:02 p.m. ET Dec. 2, 2005


MOSCOW - Russia has agreed to sell more than $1 billion worth of missiles and other defense systems to Iran, Russian news media reported Friday, a move expected to draw a heated reaction from the United States.

The Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies cited unidentified sources in the Russian military-industrial complex as saying that Russian and Iranian officials had signed contracts in November that would send up to 30 Tor-M1 missile systems to Iran over the next two years.

Interfax said the Tor-M1 system could identify up to 48 targets and fire at two targets simultaneously at a height of up to 20,000 feet.

The news agency quoted its source as saying the two countries had reached a deal on modernizing Iran’s air force inventory, as well.

The deal was also reported in the Vedomosti newspaper, which cited an unidentified manager at a military-industrial enterprise as saying Russia would provide Iran with 29 Tor missile systems that had originally been manufactured on orders from Greece.

The state arms export agency, Rosoboronexport, said it had no information on the reported deal.

No Iranian officials were immediately available for comment Friday, a weekly holiday in the country. There were no reports in the Iranian media about the deal.

Straining relations with the U.S.
While the conventional weapons deal would not violate international agreements, it was likely to elicit an adverse reaction from the United States.

“I expect that Russia’s decision to supply the complexes to Iran will meet a negative reaction from the West, but this criticism will be of a political rather than legal character,” Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, was quoted by Vedomosti as saying.

Russia, a key Iranian ally, has resisted U.S.-led efforts to bring Tehran before the U.N. Security Council over its alleged nuclear weapons program, insisting that the disputes be resolved through the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Russia is also building a nuclear reactor in the Iranian city of Bushehr.

Meanwhile, the United States and Russia are supporting efforts by the European Union to persuade Iran to halt development of nuclear weapons in exchange for economic incentives, such as trade opportunities.

Russia, which has a long and lucrative relationship with Iran, has offered to try to resolve a key dispute by offering to enrich uranium for an Iranian civilian nuclear energy program as a safeguard against Iran using enrichment for weapons purposes.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Wednesday that the Bush administration had not endorsed the Russian proposal and that “we continue to take a hard line” on Iran’s not controlling a process that could produce nuclear weapons.

Burns said sidetracked negotiations between Iran and Britain, France and Germany probably would be resumed in early January.

Israel considers Iran to be its biggest threat, and doesn’t believe Tehran’s claims that its nuclear program is peaceful. Israeli concerns were heightened recently after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged that Israel be “wiped off the map.”

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

PolicyWatch #1064
Iran’s Air Forces: Struggling to Maintain Readiness

By Fariborz Haghshenass
December 20, 2005

Recent events, including Iran’s launch of its first space imaging satellite, Russia’s announcement that it is selling Iran twenty-nine Tor-M1 (SA-15 Gauntlet) mobile short-range surface-to-air missile systems for $700 million, and the crash of an Iranian air force C-130 transport into an apartment block in Tehran, have focused attention on Iran’s evolving air and aerospace power capabilities, as well as on Iran’s longstanding problems in maintaining its aging fleet of military and civilian aircraft.

A Force Divided

Iran’s air and aerospace forces are divided between the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (regular air force) and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Air Force (Revolutionary Guards air force).

The regular air force is by far the larger and more capable service. Its main role is to defend Iran against foreign enemies; in the event of invasion, this might include long-range offensive missions. To this end, it operates some two hundred and twenty combat aircraft (F-14A Tomcats, F-4D/E Phantoms, F-5E/F Tigers, Su-24MKs, MiG-29A/UBs, Mirage F-1EQs, and F-7Ns) at various states of readiness; around fifteen reconnaissance aircraft (RF-4Es and RF-5As); at least one hundred training aircraft (F-5B/Simorghs, FT-7s, PC-7/S-68s, and F-33 Bonanza/Parastoos); some forty-five transport and tanker aircraft (Boeing 707s and 747s, C-130E/H Hercules, and F-27 Friendships); around thirty-five helicopters used for search and rescue and transport; and four P-3F Orions for maritime surveillance of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The regular air force also operates a unit equipped with the Zelzal surface-to-surface missile system, which has a range of 300 kilometers (the Revolutionary Guards also deploy Zelzal missiles).

The Revolutionary Guards air force provides close air support and airlift capabilities for the Revolutionary Guards’ rapid reaction units. The backbone of the Revolutionary Guards air force consists of ten Su-25 Frogfoot attack aircraft (including seven flown from Iraq to Iran during the 1991 Gulf War and kept airworthy with the help of Georgian technicians) and around forty EMB-312 Tucanos, its main close air support aircraft. The Revolutionary Guards air force also maintains some thirty Y-12 and Dassault Falcon 20 light transports, a number of MFI-17 Mushaqs and Super Mushaqs trainers, and locally built Ababil and Mohajer reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The Revolutionary Guards air force also operates a sizeable rotary-wing force consisting of around twenty Mi-171Sh helicopters for transport and armed assault roles and a large transport force based in Shiraz equipped with around fifteen ex-Iraqi Il-76s (originally operated by the regular air force) and twelve An-74T-200 transports. The Revolutionary Guards Corps puts great importance on rapid deployment and airborne operations, due to its internal security function, and it regularly practices the airborne insertion of troops and equipment over relatively long ranges.

Finally, the Revolutionary Guards air force operates several hundred short- and medium-range mobile ballistic missiles, including the Shahab-3/-3B with a range of up to 2,000 kilometers, which is the mainstay of Iran’s strategic deterrent. If Iran ever produces nuclear weapons, the Revolutionary Guards air force will likely control them.

Institutional Rivalries and Tensions

Rivalries between the regular armed forces and the Revolutionary Guards Corps during the early stages of the Iran-Iraq War precluded effective cooperation between the two. The war taught the Revolutionary Guards commanders that they needed to be able to operate independently, which required organizing their ranks into ground, air, and naval arms like the regular armed forces. As a result, in 1986 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered creation of three separate branches of the Revolutionary Guards, including an air force. Not surprisingly, the new service lacked the necessary technical expertise, and was instructed by the ruling clerics to pass its first “advanced” fighter aircraft, Chinese Chengdu F-7s, on to the regular air force. Ever since, the two Iranian air forces have had a tense relationship. They are not known ever to have held a single joint exercise. It is unclear whether they could operate together effectively in the event of a crisis.

Despite its junior status, the Revolutionary Guards air force may eventually supplant the regular air force as the dominant air service as a result of its access to funding, its active recruitment of the best graduates from technical degree-granting programs, and the rising influence of Revolutionary Guards–affiliated politicians, such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. By contrast, the regular air force has struggled to compensate for the loss of growing numbers of experienced technical personnel and aircrews to retirement; it has responded by pooling the existing technicians into centralized task forces. In the early days after the Islamic Revolution, the regular air force failed to create the training infrastructure needed to grow a new generation of technical specialists—a problem only partly rectified by the creation of Sattari Air University following the war with Iraq. In light of these problems, it is not inconceivable that Iran’s two air force services might eventually merge in order to create a leaner, more efficient, and more effective organization better able to deal with the challenges Iran is likely to face in the future.

Aviation Industry

The Islamic revolution resulted in the departure of more than 40,000 American military advisors from Iran. In March 1979, the U.S. government banned any further foreign military sales or transfers to Iran, and by November 1979, the U.S. government officially suspended all licenses for export to Iran. Compounding Iran’s problems, Iraq invaded in September 1980.

Sanctions forced Iran toward self-sufficiency in operating, maintaining, repairing, and modifying its existing American-built systems. The regular air force was at the forefront of these efforts; it was the military branch most dependent on American assistance.

The regular air force initially decided to produce aircraft spare parts for its own use. Teams of experts established relationships with local universities and technical schools, and by the final stages of the Iran-Iraq War, the regular air force’s Self-Sufficiency Jihad Directorate (originally named the Industrial Research Unit) had established depot-level maintenance shops in several air bases around the country. These shops were responsible for repairing systems worn out or damaged by the war.

While doing depot-level maintenance and repair, regular air force experts drew up blueprints for aircraft parts, so that they might be reverse-engineered using methods similar to those used by China. A close relationship developed between the military-industrial complexes of the two countries. Many Western systems were shared with Beijing, which in turn helped Iran set up production lines for the local manufacture of these parts.

Today, Iran’s aviation industry produces modern flight avionics and communications gear, two types of engines, airframes, in-flight refueling gear, and flight simulators. In addition, the regular air force has produced a variety of ordnance, including both “dumb” and guided bombs, and air-to-air, air-to-ground, and surface-to-air missiles, including the Fatter air-to-air missile (a Sidewinder look-alike), the Sedjil (an air-to-air version of the Hawk surface-to-air missile), the AGM-379/20 Zoobin, the GBU-67/B Qadr, and the Sattar laser-guided air-to-ground missile.

The regular air force has also begun producing aircraft. Recent examples include the Tazarve jet-trainer and Saegheh fighter (the latter is based on the F-5E, but has a twin vertical tail configuration to improve takeoff and maneuvering performance). Both aircraft are still in the prototype stage, and Iranian industry has a ways to go to establish a viable design/production base.

As for the Revolutionary Guards air force, it has improved its technical base by concentrating most of its capability in a semicorporate entity, the Pars Aviation Services Company, which not only maintains the Revolutionary Guards air force’s own combat and transport fleet, but also offers its services to local airlines that operate seventeen Tupolev Tu-154 passenger planes. Yet despite making major strides in this area, Iran continues to experience problems in maintaining its aging fleet of military and civilian aircraft, and it has experienced a number of major aviation disasters in the past decade.

Current Trends

Iran is the only country in the region that does not receive ongoing support from the original manufacturers of its weapons systems. Until very recently, Russia had not been deeply involved in the maintenance of Iran’s Eastern bloc weapon systems, perhaps in part because the Islamic Republic has made many modifications to its Russian-origin systems. Moreover, as a result of U.S. pressure, Russia has refused to provide Iran with newer combat aircraft beyond those ordered in the late 1980s and early 1990s, though Russia recently agreed to upgrade and modernize the avionics and weapons systems in Iran’s existing fleet of MiG-29 and Su-24 aircraft. As far as new purchases are concerned, Iran has largely had to settle for semi-obsolescent designs from China.

Nonetheless, the Iranian air and air defense forces can count on the advantages conferred by strategic depth and an indigenous military industrial capability. The full potential of Iran’s military industrial capacity remains unknown to the outside world and may yet manage to surprise Iran’s adversaries in future wars.

Iran’s senior military leaders know that Iran’s air forces would not be able to resist an invasion by a major power such as the United States. As a result, Iran has not focused on creating a large military, but rather has focused on developing the abilities to conduct continuous (day and night) operations through the acquisition of night vision equipment; to wage asymmetric warfare by creating a large popular militia (the Basij) and sea denial capabilities; and to strike even its most distant enemies by acquiring reconnaissance satellites, high altitude reconnaissance and strike UAVs, and long-range rocket and medium-range ballistic missile systems.

Fariborz Haghshenass is a pseudonym for an expert on the Iranian military.

are you saying that the islamic revolutionary guards, and not the regular armed forces, will control iran' nukes? :wow:

no wonder the israelis are in a panic......

With rivalry going on between the Regular and Revolutionary Forces, it might implode and end up destroying its other. No need for Israel to invade. Maybe, just inflame it,

iran has a really weird form of government.... essentially, two govts run the country.... a secular one, run by the prez, and an islamic one, headed by the ayatolah.....

now if the ayatolah orders his revolutionary guards to nuke israel, maybe the professional officers of the regular armed forces would be horrified and try to stop the radical revolutionary guards.......

http://www.defencetalk.com/news/publish/article_005104.php


Iran Boosts Gulf Presence With Locally Made Submarine
Agence France-Presse
Wed, 8 Mar 2006, 01:45


Tehran: Iran's armed forces have deployed a new locally-built submarine in Gulf waters, state television reported Tuesday. The vessel is named the Nahang, meaning whale, and was "built by specialists in the Iranian defence ministry and has the capability to carry multipurpose weapons for different missions", Rear Admiral Sajjad Kouchaki said.

"The submarine is fully adapted to the Persian Gulf," he said, adding that the Iranian navy was pursuing a policy of deterrence in the strategic waters -- home to the world's largest oil reserves.

No further details on the submarine were given.

Last May state media announced Iran had begun producing its first locally-built submarine. At the time it was called the Ghadir, named after a Shiite religious holiday.

According to foreign military experts, Iran's inventory of submarines patrolling Gulf waters includes up to six Russian-built SSK or SSI Kilo class diesel submarines.

In recent months Israel has been dangling the threat of pre-emptive action to stop Iran's disputed nuclear energy programme -- seen as a mask for weapons development.

The United States has also refused to rule out military action against Iran.

I just saw in QTV-11 Balitang Hali this 12 pm,the news about the worlds fastest under water missile in which the iranian navy successfully launched. According to the Iranian Navy spokesperson it is already the worlds fatest under water missile that can destroy submarine and other surface vessels.Locally developed by the iranian. The test was shown in IRNN of iran.

Guys can you show also more details. My god this is a good development.After the presence of Iranian Shafiq jet now the underwater missile...

So they've got it too. I've watched one episode of National Geographic about similar underwater missiles being developed by the soviets, just forgot the name.

Forgive me if may be a "litte out of date", but would this development still be called a TORPEDO? To me, if a projectile travels the whole way to its target underwater, then it's still a torpedo regardless of what's propelling it- whether it's propeller, a pumpjet or whatever....


It would not be such a remarkable development if you meant an underwater-launched missile like the Tomahawk or the Harpoons which can be launched from USN and RN subs.

Or their former East Bloc equivalents.

This might be it:

http://diodon349.com/Kursk-Memorial/storm_..._the_squall.htm

Yeah, you're right MSantor, they're interchangely using the term missile and torpedo.

This might be how the Iranians got it. They believed it, they bought it. Now they have it.



UNDERWATER MISSLE. The VA-111 Shkval (Squall) supercavitating torpedo, shown here being launched from a Russian Navy Oscar II-class submarine, rockets to a speed over 200 mph, which would give a targeted vessel little chance to evade it.

http://www.gulf-news.com/region/Iran/10030351.html

Iran tests 'sonar-evading underwater missile.
Reuters

Tehran: Iran has test-fired a sonar-evading underwater missile that can outpace any enemy warship, a senior naval commander told state television on Sunday during a week of war games in the Gulf.

"This missile evades sonar technology under the water and even if the enemy sonar system could detect its movement under the water, no warship could escape from it because of its high velocity," Revolutionary Guards Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said.

"The Islamic Republic is now among the only two countries who hold this kind of missile. Under the water the maximum speed that a missile could (usually) move is 25 metres per second, but now we possess a missile which goes as fast as 100 metres per second," he told state television.

The commander used the word "missile" in Farsi, rather than "torpedo".

"The boats that can launch this missile have a technology that makes them stealthy and nobody could recognise them or act against them," he added.

Iran earlier in the war games said it tested a radar-evading missile and Sunday's announcement is likely to add to Western worries. Iran has a commanding position over the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, a shipping route through which passes some two-fifths of all the oil traded in the world.


An IRANIAN TORPEDO version Of Russian SUNBURN(Moskit/SS-N22) Ant-Ship Missiles.
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/moskit.htm

Peace to all.

Iran claims test of fastest underwater missile
No warship can escape’ powerful 223-mph warhead, Tehran says

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran announced its second major missile test in a week, saying Sunday it has successfully fired a high-speed underwater missile capable of destroying huge warships and submarines.

The Iranian-made missile has a speed of 223 mph underwater, Gen. Ali Fadavi, deputy head of the Navy of the elite Revolutionary Guards, said.

He called it the fastest underwater missile in the world—but it has the same speed as the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, developed in 1995 and believed to be the world’s fastest, three or four times faster than a torpedo.

It was not immediately known if the Iranian missile, which has not yet been named, was based on the Shkval, or if it can carry a nuclear warhead.

“It has a very powerful warhead designed to hit big submarines. Even if enemy warship sensors identify the missile, no warship can escape from this missile because of its high speed,” Fadavi told state-run television.

New military concerns arise

The new weapon could raise concerns over Iran’s naval power in the Gulf, where during the war with Iraq in the 1980s Iranian forces attacked oil tankers from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, prompting a massive U.S. naval operation to protect them.

Cmdr. Jeff Breslau of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet said no special measures were taken by U.S. forces based on Bahrain in reaction to the Iranian war games, even after the latest missile test.

“They can conduct excercises whenever they want and they frequently do, just as we do. We conduct excercises throughout this region,” he told The Associated Press by telephone.

The missile test was conducted during the third day of large-scale military maneuvers by tens of thousands of the elite Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.

On Friday, the first day of the war games, Iran test-fired the Fajr-3 missile, which can avoid radars and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads. The Guards said the test was successful.

The missile tests and war games coincide with increasing tension between Iran and the West over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10704034/

For sure they bought the rights and made it better, 23 mph faster than the Soviets' Shkval which goes at 200 mph.

After the underwater missile,

http://pdff.sytes.net/index.php?showtopic=3236

now these:

Iran says it has test-fired missile

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran successfully test-fired a missile that can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads, the military said Friday.

Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force chief of the elite Revolutionary Guards, did not specify the missile's range, saying it depends on the weight of its warheads.

But state-run television described the weapon as "ballistic" -- suggesting it's of comparable range to Iran's existing ballistic rocket, which can travel 1,250 miles and reach arch-foe Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East.

"Today, a remarkable goal of the Islamic Republic of Iran's defense forces was realized with the successful test-firing of a new missile with greater technical and tactical capabilities than those previously produced," Salami said on state-run television.

It showed a clip of the launch of what it called the Fajr-3, with "fajr" meaning "victory" in Farsi.

"It can avoid anti-missile missiles and strike the target," Salami said.

He said the missile would carry a multiple warhead, and each warhead would be capable of hitting its target precisely.

"This news causes much concern, and that concern is shared by many countries in the international community, about Iran's aggressive nuclear weapons program and her parallel efforts to develop delivery systems, both in the field of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.

"The combination of extremist jihadist ideology, together with nuclear weapons and delivery systems, is a combination that no one in the international community can be complacent about," he said.

Yossi Alpher, an Israeli consultant on the peace process, said the news "escalates the arms race between Iran and all those who are concerned about Iran's aggressive intentions and nuclear potential."

"Clearly it's escalation, and also an attempt by Iran to flex its muscles as it goes into a new phase of the diplomatic struggle with the U.N. Security Council," Alpher said.

Andy Oppenheimer, a weapons expert at Jane's Information Group, said the missile test was "a step on the road to have the capability of having a nuclear arsenal."

"If the missile is adaptable for nuclear warheads, then they are well on the way," he said. "But they have not made a nuclear warhead yet. The current estimates are it could take five years."

The existing rocket is the Shahab-3, which means "shooting star," and also is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Israel and the United States have jointly developed the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system in response to the Shahab-3.

Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.

Last year, former Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said Tehran had successfully tested a solid fuel motor for the Shahab-3, a technological breakthrough in Iran's military.

Salami said Friday the Iranian-made missile was test-fired as large military maneuvers began in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The maneuvers are scheduled to last a week and will involve 17,000 Revolutionary Guards as well as boats, fighter jets and helicopter gunships.

The tests come amid growing concern over Iran's nuclear program. The United States and its allies believe Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but Tehran denies that, saying its program is for generating electricity.

The U.N. Security Council is demanding that Iran halt its uranium enrichment activities. But an Iranian envoy said its activities are "not reversible."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/03/31/...e.ap/index.html

Iran calls second missile test a success
Updated Sun. Apr. 2 2006 11:27 PM ET

Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran conducted its second major test of a new missile within days on Sunday, firing a high-speed torpedo it said no submarine or warship can escape at a time of increased tensions with the U.S. over its nuclear program.

The tests came during war games that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have been holding in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea since Friday.

On the maneuvers' first day, Iran said it successfully tested the Fajr-3 missile, which can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads.

The new torpedo, called the "Hoot," or "whale," could raise concerns over Iran's power in the Gulf, a vital corridor for the world's oil supplies and where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based. During Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iranian ships attacked oil tankers in the Gulf, and Iran and the U.S. military engaged in limited clashes.

Iran's state television stopped its normal programs to break news of the torpedo test, showing it being launched from a ship into the Gulf waters, then hitting its target, a derelict ship.

Gen. Ali Fadavi, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards' navy, said the ships that fire the Iranian-made Hoot had radar-evading technology and that the torpedo — moving at 359 kilometres per hour — was too fast to elude.

"It has a very powerful warhead designed to hit big submarines. Even if enemy warship sensors identify the missile, no warship can escape from this missile because of its high speed," Fadavi told state television.

The Hoot's speed would make it about three or four times faster than a normal torpedo and as fast as the world's fastest known underwater missile, the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, developed in 1995. It was not immediately known if the Hoot was based on the Shkval.

The new weapon gives Iran "superiority" against any warship in the region, Fadavi said, in a veiled reference to U.S. vessels in the Gulf. It was not immediately clear whether the torpedo can carry a nuclear warhead.

Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet based on the tiny Arab island nation of Bahrain in the Gulf, said no special measures were taken in reaction to the Iranian war games, even after the latest missile test.

He would not comment on whether the new torpedo represents a threat to American forces in the region.

"In general terms, no matter where we operate in the world, we're aware of other capabilities that exist and of other countries that aren't as friendly to the U.S., and we pay attention to those capabilities," he said.

The U.S. and Iranian navies have had brush-ups during the past — during the "Tanker War," when U.S. warships moved into the Gulf to guard oil tankers.

In 1988, the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts was badly damaged by an Iranian mine. In response, the U.S. Navy launched its largest engagement of surface warships since World War II. Two Iranian ships were destroyed, and an American helicopter was shot down, killing the two pilots.

Iran is now trying to show its strength amid worries of U.S. military action over its nuclear program, which Washington says aims to produce nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusation, saying it intends only to generate electricity.

The U.N. Security Council has demanded Iran give up uranium enrichment, a crucial part of the nuclear process. Washington is pressing for sanctions if Tehran continues its refusal to do so, though U.S. officials have not ruled out military action as an eventual option, insisting they will not allow Iran to gain a nuclear arsenal.

Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has warned that the United States will "suffer" if it takes action against its nuclear program. Some have seen that as a threat to increase militant action in the region or turn to the oil weapon, though Iranian oil officials have ruled out any squeeze in supplies.

Iran, which views the United States as an arch foe and is concerned about the U.S. military presence in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, says the maneuvers aim to develop the Guards' defensive capabilities.

The United States and its Western allies have been watching Iran's progress in missile capabilities with concern. Iran already possesses the Shahab-3 missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and hitting U.S forces in the Middle East.

The upgraded version of the ballistic Shahab-3 missile can travel about 1,930 kilometres, putting Israel within easy range.

Fadavi said Sunday's torpedo test was the outcome of six years of hard work at the Iranian Aerospace Industries, affiliated with the Defense Ministry.

More than 17,000 Revolutionary Guards forces are taking part in the weeklong maneuvers in the Gulf.

On Sunday, guards paratroops practiced a drop in an attack on a mock enemy position, and warships, jet fighters, helicopters and sophisticated electronic equipment were used in other exercises.

The television report said Sunday's war games included measures to respond to electronic jams caused by a mock enemy.

Iran has routinely held war games over the past two decades to improve its combat readiness and test locally made equipment such as missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers.

Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.




U.S. Confirms Iranian "Missile-Torpedo" Test In The Persian Gulf

April 3, 2006 8:19 p.m. EST


Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The United States Department of Defense (DoD) says Iran may have a "missile-torpedo," which the Islamic Republic recently tested in the Persian Gulf area.

A senior Defense Department official adds that "It is possible that they are increasing their (weapons) capability and making strides in radar-absorbing materials and targeting."

DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman confirms that the Iranian government announced the successful testing of a sonar-dodging, hyper-speed underwater missile-torpedo.

Whitman adds, "Iranians have also been known to boast and exaggerate about their statements about greater technical and tactical capabilities."


New Iranian Missile Can Avoid Radar, Launch Multiple Warheads

By Amihai Zippor

(IHC News, 02 April 2006) Iran announced the successful test of a new missile that can avoid radar and hold multiple warheads.

News of the test startled the Islamic state’s neighbors and enemies, as it is a major escalation in the face of the international community’s dispute with Iran over its nuclear program.

“This missile can simultaneously hit several targets, has near stealth capabilities with a high maneuverability, pinpoint accuracy and radar avoidance features,” Iranian air force chief General Hossein Salami of the elite Revolutionary Guard said on Friday 31 March 2006.

According to Salami, the missile’s range depends on the weight of the warheads but has the capability to reach Israel and US bases in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Israel and the US reacted with alarm since the missile signifies that the threat from Iran has been upgraded.

“I think it demonstrates that Iran has a very active and aggressive military program under way,” US State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said in Washington.

“I think Iran's military posture, military development effort, is of concern to the international community,” Ereli said.

Israeli officials also responded to the test firing with pessimism as Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and threatens western countries as well as Israel.

“The combination of extremist jihadist ideology, together with nuclear weapons and delivery systems, is a combination that no one in the international community can be complacent about,” Israeli Foreign military spokesman Mark Regev said.

Iran claims its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only but has refused to give guarantees and continues making moves that are indicative of a regime seeking nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

In one month, the UN Security Council is scheduled to review its evidence over the matter and may vote for full economic sanction against the Persian Gulf state if it is clear Iran has a separate clandestine military nuclear tract.

Furthermore, the US and Israel have not ruled out a preemptive strike against Iran if it fails to cooperate with the international community over the issue as a nuclear Iran would create great instability not only in the region but across the world.


:crawling: :armytwisted:

Iran's High Speed Torpedo Scam

April 4, 2006: Iran recently announced the successful test of a new, high-speed torpedo, one that could move through the water at speeds of up to 100 meters a second. This is four times as fast as conventional torpedoes, and is thus nearly "unavoidable" by its intended target.



The new Iranian weapon is apparently based upon Russia's VA-111 Shkval (Squall) torpedo. The Shkval is a high-speed supercavitating rocket-propelled torpedo originally designed to be a rapid-reaction defense against US submarines. Basically an underwater missile, the solid-rocket propelled torpedo achieves its speed by producing an envelope of supercavitating bubbles from its nose and skin, which coat the entire weapon surface in a thin layer of gas. This drastically reduces metal-to-water friction. The torpedo leaves the tube at nearly a hundred kilometers an hour, then lights its rocket motor. In tests in the 1990s the Shkval reportedly had an 80 percent kill probability at a range about seven kilometers, although steerability was reportedly limited.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsub/art...s/20060404.aspx


The reliability of such rocket-propelled torpedoes remains uncertain. The much publicized loss of the Russian submarine "Kursk" was, according to some sources, likely due to an accidental rocket motor start of such a torpedo while still aboard the boat. News of this new Iranian weapon was accompanied by the announcement that Iran had also tested a new ballistic missile, the Fajr-3, which employs some stealth technology and carries several warheads.



Iran's possession and successful testing of this weapon is troublesome for several reasons. One is Iran's increasing belligerence, especially towards nuclear-armed Israel (which is estimated to have at least 200 nuclear weapons and the missiles and submarines to deliver them) as well as an almost equal antipathy towards the US. Another reason to worry is Russia's apparent intent to continue close economic ties with Iran and the resulting transfer of its technology to this Islamic state run by fanatics and others who are apparently just plain nuts.



Iran is believed to have three late-model Kilo class SSKs bought from Russia, eight mini-subs purchased from North Korea, and several older boats of unknown type. The navy has several dozen fast attack boats that might carry the new torpedo but whose capabilities are in other ways modest. Its small fleet of P-3K "Orion" aircraft could conceivably also carry such a torpedo although it is unknown if Iran plans to arm its Orions with the new torpedo. Iran's navy is the smallest of its armed forces.



However, there is also the matter of credibility and capability. For decades, Iran has continually boasted of new, Iranian designed and manufactured weapons, only to have the rather more somber truth leak out later. Iran's weapons design capabilities are primitive, but the government has some excellent publicists, who always manage to grab some headlines initially, before anyone can question the basic facts behind these amazing new weapons. Take, for example, the new wonder torpedo. The Russians have not had any success convincing the world's navy that their rocket propelled torpedo is a real threat. For one thing, the attacking sub has to get relatively close (within seven kilometers) to use it. Modern anti-submarine tactics focus on preventing subs from getting that close. For that reason, the Russians themselves tout the VA-111 Shkval torpedo as a specialized anti-submarine weapon for Russian subs being stalked by other subs. This is also questionable, because Shkval is essentially unguided. You have to turn the firing sub and line it up so that the Shkval, on leaving the torpedo tube and lighting off its rocket motor, will be aimed directly at the distant target. Do the math, and you will see that there is little margin for error, or chance of success, with such a weapon. If the Iranians bought the Shkval technology from Russia, they got the bad end of the deal.

check out related thread

http://pdff.sytes.net/index.php?showtopic=3236

Iran calls test of new missile successful
Posted 4/2/2006 6:08 PM E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this













A photo taken off Iranian TV shows the test-firing in Gulf waters of a new Iranian high-speed underwater missile capable of destroying huge warships and submarines.




By Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran conducted its second major test of a new missile within days on Sunday, firing a high-speed torpedo it said no submarine or warship can escape at a time of increased tensions with the U.S. over its nuclear program.
The tests came during war games that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have been holding in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea since Friday.

On the maneuvers' first day, Iran said it successfully tested the Fajr-3 missile, which can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads.

The new torpedo, called the "Hoot," or "whale," could raise concerns over Iran's power in the Gulf, a vital corridor for the world's oil supplies and where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based. During Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iranian ships attacked oil tankers in the Gulf, and Iran and the U.S. military engaged in limited clashes.

Iran's state television stopped its normal programs to break news of the torpedo test, showing it being launched from a ship into the Gulf waters, then hitting its target, a derelict ship.

Gen. Ali Fadavi, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards' navy, said the ships that fire the Iranian-made Hoot had radar-evading technology and that the torpedo — moving at 223 miles per hour — was too fast to elude.

"It has a very powerful warhead designed to hit big submarines. Even if enemy warship sensors identify the missile, no warship can escape from this missile because of its high speed," Fadavi told state television.

The Hoot's speed would make it about three or four times faster than a normal torpedo and as fast as the world's fastest known underwater missile, the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, developed in 1995. It was not immediately known if the Hoot was based on the Shkval.

The new weapon gives Iran "superiority" against any warship in the region, Fadavi said, in a veiled reference to U.S. vessels in the Gulf. It was not immediately clear whether the torpedo can carry a nuclear warhead.

Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet based on the tiny Arab island nation of Bahrain in the Gulf, said no special measures were taken in reaction to the Iranian war games, even after the latest missile test.

He would not comment on whether the new torpedo represents a threat to American forces in the region.

"In general terms, no matter where we operate in the world, we're aware of other capabilities that exist and of other countries that aren't as friendly to the U.S., and we pay attention to those capabilities," he said.

The U.S. and Iranian navies have had brush-ups during the past — during the "Tanker War," when U.S. warships moved into the Gulf to guard oil tankers.

In 1988, the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts was badly damaged by an Iranian mine. In response, the U.S. Navy launched its largest engagement of surface warships since World War II. Two Iranian ships were destroyed, and an American helicopter was shot down, killing the two pilots.

Iran is now trying to show its strength amid worries of U.S. military action over its nuclear program, which Washington says aims to produce nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusation, saying it intends only to generate electricity.

The U.N. Security Council has demanded Iran give up uranium enrichment, a crucial part of the nuclear process. Washington is pressing for sanctions if Tehran continues its refusal to do so, though U.S. officials have not ruled out military action as an eventual option, insisting they will not allow Iran to gain a nuclear arsenal.

Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has warned that the United States will "suffer" if it takes action against its nuclear program. Some have seen that as a threat to increase militant action in the region or turn to the oil weapon, though Iranian oil officials have ruled out any squeeze in supplies.

Iran, which views the United States as an arch foe and is concerned about the U.S. military presence in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, says the maneuvers aim to develop the Guards' defensive capabilities.

The United States and its Western allies have been watching Iran's progress in missile capabilities with concern. Iran already possesses the Shahab-3 missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and hitting U.S forces in the Middle East.

The upgraded version of the ballistic Shahab-3 missile can travel about 1,200 miles, putting Israel within easy range.

Fadavi said Sunday's torpedo test was the outcome of six years of hard work at the Iranian Aerospace Industries, affiliated with the Defense Ministry.

More than 17,000 Revolutionary Guards forces are taking part in the weeklong maneuvers in the Gulf.

On Sunday, guards paratroops practiced a drop in an attack on a mock enemy position, and warships, jet fighters, helicopters and sophisticated electronic equipment were used in other exercises.

The television report said Sunday's war games included measures to respond to electronic jams caused by a mock enemy.

Iran has routinely held war games over the past two decades to improve its combat readiness and test locally made equipment such as missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers.

Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.





Iran Might Have New 'Missile-Torpedo,' DoD Official Says
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, April 3, 2006 – It's feasible that Iran has developed a new "missile-torpedo," which news reports say was tested during recent military exercises in the Persian Gulf area, a senior Defense Department official said here today.
"It is possible that they are increasing their (weapons) capability and making strides in radar-absorbing materials and targeting," DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman told Pentagon reporters.

Yesterday, the Iranian government announced the successful testing of a sonar-dodging, hyper-speed underwater missile-torpedo, according to news reports. The Iranians also are said to be developing a stealthy airborne missile.

However, Whitman urged caution in accepting the veracity of the statements. "Iranians have also been known to boast and exaggerate about their statements about greater technical and tactical capabilities," he said.

Whitman told reporters he was providing an unclassified U.S. military assessment of the alleged new Iranian weapons. "I cannot go further," he said.





U.S. Confirms Iranian "Missile-Torpedo" Test In The Persian Gulf

April 3, 2006 8:19 p.m. EST


Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The United States Department of Defense (DoD) says Iran may have a "missile-torpedo," which the Islamic Republic recently tested in the Persian Gulf area.

A senior Defense Department official adds that "It is possible that they are increasing their (weapons) capability and making strides in radar-absorbing materials and targeting."

DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman confirms that the Iranian government announced the successful testing of a sonar-dodging, hyper-speed underwater missile-torpedo.

Whitman adds, "Iranians have also been known to boast and exaggerate about their statements about greater technical and tactical capabilities."


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/03/iran_missile_test/
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060403-103808-5027r.htm


:headbang:

prepare form him as if he is 10 feet tall and you'll never be sorry :snipemo:

Sounds interesting subject. If iran has the underwater missiles? what about the israel secret defense arsenal. Let the iranian prove the capability of the underwater missile first before bluffing that is effective. They are on the developmental stage right now. Testing and adjusting the sytem of the components.

Let them prove it that it is worthy for them.

check related thread

http://pdff.sytes.net/index.php?showtopic=3142&st=0&#last

very interesting, but I suspect the weakest link of this 'awesome' weapon is the delivery system, which could be knocked out by US forces before it could fire the weapon.

Isn't China Involve to the Missile development of Iran?

China Arming Iran With Advanced Missile Technology
Charles R. Smith
Monday, April 17, 2006

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Missiles for Iran and Threats to America

While China publicly states that it is not a threat to U.S. national security, dangerous actions taken by the Chinese government are putting America and her allies at risk.

China is arming Iran with advanced missile technology. Recent Iranian missile tests highlight the close working relationship between Beijing and Tehran.

While Chinese diplomats in the U.N. talk of finding peace with a nuclear Iran, the People's Liberation Army is rapidly provided Tehran with advanced weaponry.

Iran demonstrated its newfound missile technology from China by test-firing a new anti-ship missile during recent military exercises. The shore-launched firing of a C-701 anti-ship missile was carried out by Iran during the large-scale war games. Iranian reports described the test-firing of a "Kosar" missile during the games

China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp. (CPMIEC) has been working for two years with its Iranian counterpart, the Aerospace Industries Organization, developing a radar-guided variant of the C-701 cruise missile. The radar-guided C-701 is designated "Kosar" by Iran.

The Iranian test is the first demonstration of a radar-guided C-701, giving the small missile the capability to search and lock onto a target ship without direct control. CPMIEC sources claim the new C-701/Kosar is equipped with an advanced millimeter-wave radar seeker that can provide high-resolution target imagery, allowing the missile to identify its target and select a specific impact point.

In addition, Iran also fired an air-launched version of the Chinese C-802 cruise missile, named "Noor" by Iran. The launch platform was believed to be a Russian Mil-17 helicopter.

The C-802 anti-ship missile was developed by China HaiYing Electro-Mechanical Technology Academy (CHETA), also known as 3rd Aerospace Academy, located in the southwest suburbs of Beijing. The C-802 is powered by a turbojet with paraffin-based fuel and carried a 363-pound high-explosive warhead. The turbojet gives the sea-skimming weapon a range of over 100 miles. The missile could pose a threat to major warships including U.S. aircraft carriers.

Iran also demonstrated a modified Shahab-3 ballistic missile, vaguely described by Tehran as having stealth capabilities and multiple warheads. Instead, the weapon appears to have been equipped with decoy or dummy warheads designed to confuse anti-missile defense such as Patriot or the Israeli Arrow system.

The Chinese missile proliferation to Iran has brought sanctions against some of the specific PLA-owned companies involved. However, the Bush administration officially gave the Chinese government a waiver against broader sanctions that should have been imposed due to the weapons sales to Iran.

China has previously been sited as the source of missile, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons sales to Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan, North Korea and Libya. In one case, detailed Chinese blueprints of an atomic bomb were turned over to U.S. intelligence officials by Libya. Libya has since abandoned its WMD projects and has invited U.S. and European allies to help dismantle its nuclear and chemical weapons programs.

Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to visit President Bush in Washington, D.C., on April 20. The proliferation issue is not scheduled for discussion between Bush and Hu.

Port Insecurity


Meanwhile, another national security issue involving China is nearing the boiling point. The Bush administration selected Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa to operate a U.S.-made nuclear weapons detection system at a container ship port in the Bahamas.

Hutchison Whampoa is documented as being closely linked to the Chinese government, and the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) is the official flag carrier of the Chinese government. Hutchison has exclusive rights to and control of all Chinese ports south of Guangzho.

However, a recent failure has brought the capability of Chinese port security operations into question. Twenty-two illegal Chinese immigrants managed to make it to America inside a container loaded onto the MV Rotterdam, a COSCO ship.

The Rotterdam arrived at Seattle's Harbor island with a 40-foot metal container filled with 18 men and four women. The illegal immigrants were caught by an unarmed guard and a local truck driver moments after they freed themselves from the container.

According to a report by Brad Knickerbocker of The Christian Science Monitor, the discovery showed "just how easy it would have been to load that 40-foot metal box aboard the MV Rotterdam, a vessel of China Shipping Line, with a weapon of mass destruction."

"If this was a chemical weapon exploding in Seattle, the plume could contaminate the rail system, Interstate 5 and SeaTac Airport, not to mention the entire downtown business and residential district," stated Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

It is no coincidence that Hutchison Whampoa operates all the main terminals in Shanghai; Hanghuabang, Jungonglu, Baoshan, the Waigaoqiao Terminal and the Shanghai Mingdong Container Terminal. Hutchison and COSCO are so closely linked that the Hong Kong company has a virtual exclusive contract to handle all loading and security.

The MV Rotterdam incident highlights the poor security and often corrupt activities associated with COSCO. COSCO has been linked in the past by U.S. intelligence agencies to illegal smuggling and international arms trafficking. COSCO ships have carried weapons to Iran, Iraq and Cuba.

COSCO Ships

James Mulvenon, a China analyst with the RAND Corporation, said that the Chinese Communist Party's military organ approved establishment of COSCO as an arm of the Chinese navy in 1985.

Mulvenon stated in his book "Soldiers of Fortune" that COSCO's establishment "legitimized the use of navy ships for civilian shipping and thus provided a legal cover for the navy's smuggling."

According to Mulvenon, the Chinese navy was linked in 1985 to illegal smuggling in foreign cars, vans, TVs and VCRs out of Hainan island in the South China Sea.

On March 18, 1996, undercover Customs and BATF agents accepted delivery of guns smuggled aboard the COSCO ship Empress Phoenix. The undercover agents had lured the Chinese into making a trial shipment of Chinese machine guns, as part of an ongoing sting operation dubbed "Dragon Fire."

The Chinese representatives of China North Industries and Poly Technologies made it clear to the undercover agents that everything in the PLA inventory was available for sale, from grenade launchers to shoulder-fired Red Parakeet surface-to-air missiles.

Federal agents unpacked COSCO crates containing 2,000 Poly Technologies AK-47s delivered from the hold of the Empress Phoenix. It was the largest seizure of fully operational automatic weapons in the history of U.S. law enforcement.

In 1998, U.S. intelligence agencies tracked a COSCO freighter from Shanghai to Karachi, Pakistan, with a load of weapons-related goods, including specialty metals and electronics used in the production of Chinese-designed Baktar Shikha anti-tank missiles.

On April 12, 2001, the Vancouver Sun reported that the sound of laughter alerted crew members of the COSCO ship Pretty River to the presence of what turned out to be two containers of Chinese being smuggled into the country at the retired navy base at Long Beach, Calif.

New Policy Needed


These samples of Chinese shipping security do not give one a warm fuzzy feeling about allowing Hutchison Whampoa to protect America against nuclear weapons smuggled on board a COSCO ship. The Bush administration should reconsider its decision to select Hutchison and assign the task to U.S. officials either in Homeland Security or the Coast Guard.

In addition, President Bush should confront Chinese President Hu with the facts. The continued Chinese missile proliferation and poor security measures threaten the entire globe. The Bush policy of "look the other way" will not protect America nor will it bring peace between the U.S. and China

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2...16/153834.shtml

Iran has copied the bluff Saddam Hussein employed to psy-war the Americans by not allowing the WMD inspectors as a ploy to make the world believe that he possessed the weapons in question- The outcome? Destruction of Iraq.

The leader of Iran not only is a lunatic but also a former active terrorist who participated in hostage taking years back.

The prize will come soon and Israel will lead the siege, then followed by the powerful and devastating finishing touches by the Americans and it's allies.

Report: Missile system captured by Hizbullah, sent to Iran

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, November 6, 2006

TEL AVIV — Hizbullah has captured an Israeli-origin advanced anti-tank guided missile system.

Israel state-owned television said an unidentified army unit left the launcher and missile in southern Lebanon, Middle East Newsline reported. The television said in a Nov. 3 report that Hizbullah found the Spike system and transferred it to Iran.

Israeli military sources said the Ground Forces Command has determined that Hizbullah seized the Spike anti-tank guided missile system. The sources said Hizbullah captured the Israeli system during the war in Lebanon in the summer of 2006.

"We know that one Gil [Spike] system has gone missing in an area where Hizbullah operated," a source said.

The Spike was developed and produced by the state-owned Rafael, Israel Armament Development Authority. The system, sold to several countries, was widely used against Hizbullah in the 34-day war in Lebanon, which ended on Aug. 14.

"It obviously went to Iran," Yoav Limor, the television's military commentator, said.

The television report said Israel's military has assessed that Iran would seek to reverse-engineer the Spike ATGM, with a range of four kilometers. Limor said this would allow Iran to develop counter-measures.

During the war, Hizbullah used Russian-origin anti-tank missiles obtained from Syria. They included the AT-14 Kornet missile, with a range of 5.5 kilometers.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtr....072222222.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070124/ap_on_..._russia_weapons

Iran receives Russian defense missiles
By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 46 minutes ago

Iran is now geared towards dominating the Arab region, its prelude to consolidating Arab nations’ forces to confronting US presence in the Middle East and in finally achieving its ultimate goal, which is to wipe out Israel and perhaps outmaneuver other religions all over the globe.

When Iraq crumbled due to the invasion of the allied forces and the death of Saddam Hussein and his band, Iran realized that its time has come to assert its role as the dominant nation in this part of the region.

This is one of the main reasons why Iran pushed for the establishment of a nuclear development program. Iran even tried to hide its real intention by shrouding its program with power generation pronouncements. Gaining nuclear-capable status is necessary in order to undermine any threat or contradiction from the US or whoever may want to contest Iran’s goals.

As seen clearly, Iran is replicating what China successfully programmed. It pushed for its nuclear development program despite international criticisms and US pleadings. They know that being “nuclear” will make the US stand down and even take the US really off their policy-making.

Iran’s short term goal is to drive the US out of Iraq and install an Iranian backed presidency. Its medium term goal is to control all Arab nations to strengthen its influence and magnify its military strength and engulf Israel. Its long term goal is to confront the western powers and erase Israel.



Iran, after controlling Syria, has successfully controlled Lebanon by supporting Hezbollah. The assassination of a US-friendly Lebanese president is proof of Iran’s resolve in controlling Lebanon. Once Iran has full control of Lebanon and Iraq, engulfing Israel will be a lot easier.



The US made a serious mistake when it attacked Iraq because it facilitated Iran’s plan of dominating the region. The defeat of Saddam’s regime and the destruction of Iraq’s military might gave Iran the needed opportunity to gain control of the region.

Looking at Iran’s goal in a different angle, its thirst for domination may be just a normal desire for such a rich and powerful nation like China who wants to dominate East Asia and as well as Germany who wanted to dominate Europe for pride and political control as well as economic.

The sad thing here is that such dominance like what the Germans did then to its neighbors may undermine the efforts of its neighbors to achieve growth and perhaps abuse its status to deny its neighbors equal share of economic growth and worse, even deny them voice in any affairs or policy-making affecting the region.

The long-term goal of the Moslem world is to dominate the world by planting their system into the host countries. England, France and even Germany now feel that the “Sharia law” or the Islamic justice system is being gradually forced into the host country’s system. Terrorism, through Al Qaeda is being used as a leverage to force these nations to give in to such clandestine efforts.

The situation is getting worse because America is losing its grip on the global nation. The US is burdened by its need to sustain good relations with the world’s oil producers. The US is the world’s biggest consumer of oil. Iran is in fact the second largest oil producer second only to Saudi Arabia. Worse, the US is continuously losing sources of oil. Another is that its military presence is diminishing. This is one of the reasons why the US can’t put too much pressure on Iran. Its weigh on world policies and the global economy is weakening as well. Even the dollar is losing value and the world’s economic powers as well as China are now diversifying their gross international reserves. Today, the Euro is among the currencies being considered for GIR holdings as a replacement for the US dollar or as a precaution for uncertainties concerning the valuation of the dollar.

Hinting on what President Bush has stated, “We have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world”, this clearly states how troubled the US now is.

This dilemma is complicating America’s disposition on Iran and other anti-American oil-producing nations. The band of anti-American nations is growing. Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador have joined them lately. Iraq is a major source of oil for the US as well.

With this, America is in a rough time. What will America do now? How can it confront the growing aggressiveness of Iran, but who is one of its major suppliers of oil unfortunately?

Another problem is that when Iran finally dominates the region and begin flexing its muscle to bully its neighbors and gain total control of everything.

So what can America do now? As I see it, one way is to take the burden of depending too much on oil or fossil fuels in running its economy off America. It needs to depend on sources other than oil. America must now embark a massive campaign to decrease America’s dependence on oil by promoting renewable sources of energy like water where we can use to extract Hydrogen, which powers the electric cars in America and in other developed countries. The technology is available now anyway. There are a lot of cars running on “Hydrogen fuel cell batteries” now. What the US need to do is mass produce it and encourage its citizens to shift to this technology. This will greatly reduce America’s oil imports. The remaining oil imports will only be used for shipping and air transportation and heavy equipments.

Another is supporting the economies of its trusted allies and helping build the military of those nations. Just like what Iran is doing, building allies to strengthen its influence and coverage, America must outmaneuver Iran somehow. America needs to strengthen its defense systems by enhancing its capabilities in tracking and intercepting ballistic missiles. It needs to enhance its intelligence and spy system.

It also needs to make its military able to launch paralyzing or crippling attacks on hostile nations before they can attack the US. Finding new or strengthening the current strategic bases or the deployment of Navy battle groups in strategic locations will play a big role here. Its Joint Strike Fighter program is very timely, fortunately.

The US is indeed facing a rough time considering the changing political orientation that is taking shape not just in the Arab region but across the globe. The weakening economy is also complicating the whole thing. US’ overdependence on oil is now taking its toll on its international relations.

With Israel, the looming dominance of Iran over that part of the region seems inevitable. Hezbollah is relentlessly strengthening its presence in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel. The Iran-backed Hezbollah is just waiting for the right time now to launch an attack.

The actions being taken by the insurgents in Iraq are actually part of Iran’s grand plan of engulfing Israel. The collaboration between Syria, Lebanon plus the Palestine is already making it all hard for the Israelis. When Iraq is finally taken over by Iran, the attack on Israel will be inevitable.

Of course, the US won’t let that happen. But with Al Qaeda and a nuclear Iran, we can expect that Iran and his party will be so determined and the circumstances will be worse than the Gulf War.

Israel must now prepare for the worst. It must now enhance its anti-missile capability and begin stockpiling its own inventory of nukes.

I believe a more destructive retaliation when Hezbollah repeats what it did lately is necessary. A preemptive attack may also be reasonable given the clear threat Hezbollah has been aiming at Israel.

Nonetheless, I believe no matter how we try to stop it, what the Bible prophesied must come to pass.

Israel should rejoice nonetheless, because as the Bible stated, God will never allow Israel to be defeated, as how it has been since the beginning.

But that’s how I see it. Not all believe in the Bible anyway. They have their own interpretations.