Iran unveils new ballistic missile
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards yesterday unveiled a short-range ballistic missile that they said can be powered by a “new generation” of engines designed to put satellites into orbit.
The Guards’ Sepahnews website said the Raad-500 missile was equipped with new Zoheir engines made of composite materials lighter than on earlier steel models.
It also unveiled Salman engines made of the same materials but with a “movable nozzle” for the delivery of satellites into space.
The Raad was “a new generation missile that has half the weight of a Fateh-110 missile but with 200 kilometres more range,” it added. The Fateh-110 is a ballistic ground-to-ground missile first unveiled in 2002. Its latest generation has a range of 300 kilometres (186 miles).
The missile news came as Iran started counting down yesterday to the launch within hours of a scientific observation satellite that is part of a programme the United States has previously described as a “provocation”.
Arch foes Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice since last year. Washington has also raised concerns in the past about Tehran’s satellite programme, saying the launch of a carrier rocket in January 2019 amounted to a violation of curbs on its development of ballistic missiles.
Comments