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Al Jazeera
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Iran showcases new weapons as it prepares for a rocky 2025
Tehran, Iran – Iran's army and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been showcasing and testing new defensive and offensive weapons in large-scale military exercises for the past three months. The country is preparing for another tumultuous year amid threats by the United States and Israel to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities, critical energy infrastructure, and military sites. Iran is also promising a third iteration of its major military strikes on Israel, in retaliation for Israeli attacks amid the devastating war on Gaza. The exercises – Eqtedar, Zolfaqar and Great Prophet – have been held across Iran, the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean. The weapons tested show Iran intends to maintain its defiance of Israel and the West, refusing to negotiate with US President Donald Trump under his 'maximum pressure' policy and continuing to advance its nuclear programme. Secret missile cities The IRGC unveiled three major underground military bases, with commanders saying they are prepared for a prolonged war. Inside what state television called a 'missile megacity', dozens of ballistic projectiles could be seen, some on mobile launchers for quick deployment. These included: Khorramshahr-4, a liquid-fuel rocket with a range of 2,000km (1,242 miles) and an upgraded warhead reportedly weighing up to two tonnes (4,400 pounds). Jahad, a liquid-fuel rocket that can go up to 1,000km (621 miles) with a 650kg (1,400-pound) warhead. L360, a solid-fuel rocket that can go 180km (111 miles) while carrying 150kg (330 pounds) of explosives. Qadr, a two-stage rocket that can travel up to 2,000km and carry a warhead weighing up to 750kg (1,650 pounds). Emad, a liquid-fuel missile with a range of about 1,800km (1,118 miles) and warheads up to 750kg. The IRGC Navy also showed some of a secret underground naval base along Iran's southern coast. Inside it, hundreds of missile-carrying speedboats and antiship mines were shown, as well as a new cruise missile, an antiship projectile called the Qadr-380. The Qadr-380 can travel more than 1,000km, meaning Iran would be able to attack ships from deep inside its territory. The IRGC also says it has a new antiship supersonic cruise missile with a range of 2,000km that it will unveil soon. Warplanes Iran used its fighter jets as well, some domestic models such as the Saeqeh and Azarakhsh, as well as many older US and Russian models dating back to before Iran's 1979 revolution. It also used the newer, Russian-made Yak-130 alongside MiG-29 fighter jets to intercept an enemy drone as part of an exercise. The subsonic two-seat jet Yak-130 was delivered by Moscow in September 2023 to train pilots for the advanced Su-35 fighter jets that Iran has long ordered but not received. Air defences Defending critical infrastructure is a priority for Iranian authorities, especially after Israel attacked multiple Iranian provinces in late October. After that attack, Israeli military sources claimed Iran had lost all four of its Russian-made S-300 missile defence batteries and more during those attacks, according to local and Western media. They claimed Iran was left mostly defenceless. Tehran claimed the impact was limited and it had replaced damaged gear. The S-300 made an appearance in live drills in January, in tandem with an upgraded version of the domestic Bavar-373, which has been in development for years, Iranian media reported. The Bavar-373 is Iran's top high-altitude missile defence system, reportedly capable of shooting down incoming missiles at a range of more than 300km (186 miles). It is equipped with tactical Sayyad 4B surface-to-air missiles. A variety of other missile defence systems that Iran has had in its arsenal for years were also tested, including the 15-Khordad, Majid, Arman, Zoubin, and Tondar. A loitering surface-to-air missile branded the 358 was also unveiled during exercises in January. With a reported range of 400km (248 miles), the new missile will be used with domestic defence systems to bolster Iran's ability to shoot down drones and low-altitude aerial threats. Iranian armed forces also trained for defending against attacks on the Natanz, Fordow and Khondab nuclear sites, and fortified defences around airports, refineries and sea ports. They drilled for scenarios including warplanes penetrating Iranian airspace, and air strikes using heavy 'bunker-buster' bombs, which the US and Israel use extensively to penetrate deep underground. Army Air Force held helicopter exercises, with a senior commander reporting they are building 1,000 more, many of them overhauls of older models since Iran is unable to buy from many international parts suppliers due to US and European sanctions. Sea, ground defence The drills included attack and defence scenarios on different terrain. Heavy armoured vehicles, including the Iranian-made Karrar main battle tank and the Russian-made BMP2 carrier, were put through their paces in desert and coastal scenarios. Soldiers and special forces commandos drilled amphibious operations, including testing coastal defence capabilities against incoming daytime and nighttime attacks. The warships Jamaran and Zagros were shown in action, as were a large number of speedboats. The IRGC claimed its newly unveiled Heydar 110, which can carry two cruise missiles, is the fastest catamaran speedboat in the world with a speed of 110 knots (more than 200km per hour). It also launched Hadid-110, a suicide drone with a jet engine that can be fired from an underwater drone before slamming into its pre-designated target. Translation: Hadid-110, Iran's latest suicide drone, is for the first time shown being fired from an unmanned underwater vehicle. Iran deployed several classes of submarines, including Tareq, Fateh and Ghadir, and said it launched domestic Valfajr torpedos from the submarines. Anti-submarine missiles were fired from US-made Sea Hawk helicopters in the Sea of Oman, and officials said they would soon show a missile-carrying hovercraft corvette. Drones, old and new At the start of February, the IRGC deployed IRIS Shahid Bagheri, the country's first drone carrier. The converted merchant ship is outfitted with a 180-metre (590-foot) runway, eight hangars on two storeys, a hospital, a football pitch, and fuel stations for drones, helicopters and vessels. It can launch variants of the Ababil, Mohajer and Homa reconnaissance and attack drones. A scaled-down version of the new jet-engine Qaher-313 drone was also seen on the deck, and Bell-206 and Mil-17 helicopters landed on it. The drone carrier's defences seemed light, with a limited number of missiles and guns on board, and there was no clarity over whether or how it would participate in a strike group. The Iranian army said separately it has taken delivery of 1,000 new drones, including variants of the Shahed one-way unmanned aerial vehicles that the West maintains Iran gave Russia for the war in Ukraine. Drone swarm operations – during which a large number of drones are launched simultaneously to overwhelm defences – were also drilled using several types of projectiles. These included first-person view (FPV) drones, which have been heavily deployed by both Russia and Ukraine during their three-year war.
Voice of America
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
Iran wraps up 'unprecedented' military exercises highlighting strengths, weaknesses, researchers say
Iran is wrapping up two months of its most intense military exercises in decades as it tries to deter potential attacks from its archrivals Israel and the United States, security researchers tell VOA. The Washington-based researchers also say the Iranian drills that began in late December, and were due to conclude by mid-March, have involved some weapons systems that pose a threat to the U.S. and Israel and others that expose weaknesses in Iran's deterrent capabilities. "The pace, intensity and publicity of the exercises is unprecedented," said Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Farzin Nadimi of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said he has been studying the Islamic Republic's military for the past 20 years. "I have never seen them conduct so many drills in such a short period of time," he said. Iranian state media reported the start of the exercises on Dec. 28. A week later, they said the exercises, codenamed "Great Prophet 19," were part of annual "Eqtedar" ["Power"] drills that involved Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ground forces engaging in war games in western Iran from Jan. 4-9. Several more exercises followed, including IRGC and Iranian Army air defense drills near nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordow and the Arak reactor in Khondab; IRGC naval drills in the Persian Gulf; a second round of IRGC ground force drills in southwestern Iran; and an Army drill, codenamed "Zulfiqar" in reference to a double-pointed sword in Islamic tradition, in southern Iran and the waters of the Gulf of Oman and northern Indian Ocean. On Feb. 26, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran chief Mohammad Eslami announced the start of a two-day 'nuclear defense drill' involving nuclear facilities, in comments to reporters, although he did not elaborate. There have been no state media reports about the outcome of those drills, which researchers said would typically involve electronic simulations. Iranian officials and state media have described the military exercises as having several goals, from boosting public morale to strengthening Iran's defensive and offensive capabilities, its integration of military forces, and its use of indigenous technologies to deter external threats. Heightened sense of threat "The Iranians clearly see a heightened military threat from Israel and the U.S.," Nadimi said. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has toughened U.S. warnings of consequences for Iran if it refines its enriched uranium to weapons-grade levels and fashions it into a nuclear warhead. Tehran long has denied seeking nuclear weapons. "They cannot have a nuclear weapon. And if I think that they will have a nuclear weapon, despite what I just said, I think that's going to be very unfortunate for them," Trump said in a Feb. 4 joint news conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a Feb. 16 appearance with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem, Netanyahu noted that Israel had dealt what he called a "mighty blow to Iran's terror axis" over the prior 16 months. That included Israel's first-ever aerial assault on the Islamic Republic, a sustained late-October strike on what Israel said were Iranian air defense and missile facilities in retaliation for a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles on Israel earlier that month. "Under the strong leadership of President Trump and with your unflinching support, I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job," Netanyahu said. Responding to a VOA request for comment on Iran's military exercises, the Israeli military said it "conducts continuous situational assessments to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, both defensive and offensive." A spokesperson for Netanyahu declined to comment when asked by VOA about the Israeli government's assessment of the Iranian drills. The U.S. Defense Department did not respond to a VOA inquiry about its view of the exercises. Brian Carter of the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project said the Islamic Republic feels exposed because of recent setbacks to its proxies and allies in Lebanon and Syria. Israel killed the leaders of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group and destroyed much of its weaponry in a two-month offensive from September to November, while Sunni Islamist rebels in Syria ousted its longtime Iran-allied autocratic ruler, Bashar Assad, in December. "The Iranian air defense and naval exercises are meant to deter the U.S. and Israel from attacking key Iranian sites after Israel's degradation of Hezbollah left Iran without its primary deterrent against such an attack," Carter said. "Many of the ground exercises, on the other hand, seek to better protect western Iran from what Tehran sees as a renewed Sunni terrorist threat in Syria and Iraq." Some of those Iranian drills involved weapons systems that could harm Israel and the U.S. if Iran retaliated for an attack, the researchers said. "Iran's stockpile of long- and short-range ballistic missiles continues to pose a serious threat to Israel and U.S. bases in the region," Nadimi said. "Iran can fire hundreds of ballistic missiles at any given time and saturate Israeli or U.S. air defenses." Carter said Iran's naval forces also have fast-moving small boats armed with anti-ship missiles that could swarm and threaten U.S. naval vessels in the region. Nadimi said one aspect of the recent exercises that exposed an Iranian weakness is the limited usage of advanced weaponry by Iranian forces. "I have not seen widespread use of modern systems like Rezvan loitering munition FPV [First Person View] drones and Shahed-149 'Gaza' high-altitude long endurance (HALE) drones by regular IRGC and Army units," Nadimi said. "Only Iran's elite military units have been using those systems widely." Carter said another weakness is a reliance on indigenous Iranian air defense systems after Israel destroyed units of Iran's most advanced system, the Russian-made S-300, last October. "It is unlikely that Iran could repel a U.S. or Israeli airstrike given the inferiority of the Iranian systems that have been used in these exercises relative to the modern U.S. and Israeli capabilities," Carter said. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this report.
