All of us, every single man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth were born with the same unalienable rights; to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And, if the governments of the world can't get that through their thick skulls, then, regime change will be necessary.
Pages
▼
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Real Signs of DETENTE in a changing Iran
JANE’S: Iran unveils extended range Fateh ballistic missile
Iran
has made significant progress in its ballistic missile programme if its
new Fateh-313 ballistic missile has a range of 500 km as claimed.
The
missile was unveiled during a 22 August Defence Industry Day ceremony
attended by President Hassan Rouhani. The Iranian media reported that it
has a range of 500 km, is highly accurate, has been successfully
tested, and would enter mass production.
Despite
the new designation, the Fateh-313 is a continuation of the Fateh-110
series. The early versions of the Fateh-110 had a range of 200 km, but
this was extended to 250 km and then supposedly 300 km for the
third-generation model that was unveiled in August 2010. The
fourth-generation Fateh-110-D1 unveiled in August 2012 was said to have a
more accurate guidance system, but the same range.
A 67% increase
in range from 200 km to 500 km would be a major step forward for Iran’s
missile programme. It would allow Iran to target more military
facilities in the Arab Gulf states with solid-fuel short-range ballistic
missiles, allow targets to be attacked from different angles, and/or
increase the amount of Iranian territory from where the missiles could
be launched, making their transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) vehicles
harder to locate and destroy.
Given that Iran claims to have
developed an anti-ship missile variant of the Fateh-110, the unveiling
of the Fateh-313 raises the possibility that it will be able to field an
anti-ship ballistic missile with a range of 500 km.
The limited
amount of imagery of the Fateh-313 suggests it is the same size as the
Fateh-110. If this is the case, the additional range must have been
achieved by improving the missile’s flight characteristics so it
benefits from more aerodynamic lift; using a more powerful and efficient
propulsion system; and/or reducing its weight, with the most obvious
savings coming from decreasing the size of its warhead and constructing
its airframe from a lighter material.
The available photographs of
the Fateh-313 displayed on 22 August shows the missile is different in
several aspects to previously displayed Fateh-110s. The rear fins are
shorter and the finlets in front of them are a different shape.
The
guidance unit appears to be larger, but this has come at the expense of
the nose section that carries the warhead, not the propulsion section.
This would suggest the Fateh-313’s payload is less than that of
Fateh-110, which is generally said to be 500 kg.
In one of the
photographs the Fateh-313’s nose cone appears to be made of a composite
material that is different from the metallic material used for the rest
of the missile’s body, but that could be attributable to the use of a
dummy warhead section for the ceremony.
President Hassan Rouhani
and other senior Iranian officials stand in front of a Fateh-313 during
the missile’s unveiling ceremony. (Iranian President’s Office) President
Hassan Rouhani and other senior Iranian officials stand in front of a
Fateh-313 during the missile’s unveiling ceremony. (Iranian President’s
Office)
No comments:
Post a Comment