Hezbollah: Our new Iranian missiles are a deterrent against Israel

[Shahryar Hedayati]

Senior militant leader boasts that Hezbollah has received not only missiles but also training and technical know-how from Iran to build more.

By Haaretz | Nov. 23, 2014 | 7:16 PM |

Upgraded surface-to-surface Fateh-110 missile at an undisclosed location, in Tehran, Iran, in 2010.
Photo by AP


Iranian missiles with pinpoint accuracy that Hezbollah has received are the "real deterrent factor" in its confrontation with Israel, a leader of the militant Lebanese group told Iran's Tasnim News Agency on Sunday.

“They (Israelis) are well aware that Hezbollah is in possession of missiles with pinpoint accuracy, and thanks to the equipment Hezbollah acquired, and with the Islamic Republic’s support and Hezbollah’s readiness for any future war, this war will be much tougher for the Israelis,” Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy secretary general of Hezbollah, told Tasnim.

Hezbollah has received Fateh-class Conqueror missiles that could reach Dimona, Revolutionary Guards Brigidier General Sayed Majid Moussavi reportedly said, according to Lebanese website YaLibnan, which cited Fars News Agency. The missiles have a range of 250 to 350 kilometers and are reportedly fitted with a 500kg warhead. Israel has been worried about such missiles getting into Hezbollah's hands, according to the Associated Press.

Qassem stressed that Iran also provided training to Hezbollah forces to prepare and launch the projectiles as well as technical know-how to make more missiles, according to Tasnim.

“When we are talking about the missile capability, it does not mean that only a number of Iranian missiles are delivered to the resistance (movement), but such a capability includes the entire necessary items for missiles,” he said.

The sheikh dismissed the notion that Iran's missile capacity threatened its Arab neighbors.

“Such missile capability (of Iran) is firstly to support Iran’s government and Revolution, and secondly, to serve the resistance (front) in the face of the Israeli enemy and serves the regional governments as well," he told Tasnim.

Hezbollah: Our new Iranian missiles are a deterrent against Israel - Middle East Israel News | Haaretz

 

[Shahryar Hedayati]

Fateh 110 missiles in Iran, Syria and Lebanon

The latest configuration of the anti-ship and anti-radar variants of Fateh-110 missiles were shown in Iran in May 2014. Photo: Iran president website



By the early 1990s the Chinese design evolved into the indigenously developed Zelzal II, under a joint program with Syria. The rocket’s 610mm diameter determined the new designation for the weapon – M600. Using larger propellant tank, the missile’s range was extended to 250km, but at these ranges, its course deviation would render the weapon useless attacking ground targets with any military significance.

Fateh 110 was designed to rectify this problem and turn the free-flight rocket into a ballistic missile that would improve its precision even at maximum range. The missile was fitted with an inertial guidance system (INS) and guidance system controlling four canards correcting the missiles’ trajectory, by nulling deviations caused by atmospheric conditions (wind, pressure) and propulsion irregularities. The missile was first tested in 2010, reached a distance of 200 km carrying a warhead of 650 kg.

Iran is developing a broad range of ballistic guided rockets and missiles, from the JDAM like 250kg GPS guided bombs and 330mm Fajr 5 rockets and the 2000 km range class Sejil. The two Fateh-110 class missiles are Hormoz 1 and Hormoz 2, designed as anti-radiation (radar attack) missiles. The missile shown with black nose carries a load of 30 submunitions. Photo: Iran’s President Website

A fourth generation of the Fateh-110 was tested in 2012, demonstrating increased range (300km), increased payload (650 kg) improved precision and shorter reaction time. These missiles are now available with unitary warhead or cargo bay carrying up to 30 subminutions, each weighing 17 kg.

Iran and Syria attempted several times to supply the the Iranian supported, Lebanese Hezbollah group with the missiles, some of those shipments were struck by Israel Air Force attacks. However, apparently some deliveries reached their destinations, as in November 2014 Hezbollah announced it has in its possession guided missiles with adequate precision and range to attack any target in Israel.

The Fateh 110 was originally developed using the SA-2 launcher but has since received a dedicated carriage. The missiles supplied to theHezbollah are believed to be stored and camouflaged in shipping containers, modified into transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) assembly. Photo: IRNA

In the past Israel’s intelligence uncovered those ‘semi strategic’ threats – in 2006 these were the Zelzal 2 missiles delivered from Iran. All those missiles were destroyed during the first hours of the 2006 Second Lebanon War, as part of Israel’s retaliatory attack after the killing of four and abduction of two soldiers by Hezbollah on the Israel-Lebanon border. Since then it was reported that Hezbollah received several dozens of Scud D missiles from Syria, but, as liquid-propelled missiles, their operation would bee too slow, enabling the Israelis to strike them before they are launched.

Deliveries of advanced, precise solid-propelled missiles has been regarded by Israel as a ‘red line’, triggering preemptive response. In 2013 the Israel Air Force attacked a shipment of similar missiles near the airport in Damascus. In the past year, Israel is said to have attacked six missile-laden convoys, as well as missile storage sites, both in Syria and Lebanon, in a bid to prevent Syria from delivering ballistic missiles, anti-ship and anti-aircraft to Hezbollah.

Tamir Eshel

Fateh 110 missiles in Iran, Syria and Lebanon | Defense Update:

 

[Shahryar Hedayati]

Lebanese source: Mobile missile launchers can hit any target in Israel

Nov 24, 2014
30091
Launched from camouflaged truck mounted containers, Fateh 110 ballistic guided missiles could strike most of the relevant targets in Israel, the Lebanese Daily Star reports.

The range of 350km from Beirut, depicting the maximum range of Fatah 110 missiles. Map layer: Google Earth



Israel believes Hezbollah also has acquired a “few dozen” Scud D missiles with a range of 700 kilometers stashed in the northern Bekaa. The Lebanese Daily Star reports.

However, the Scud D is a logistical headache forHezbollah compared to other rocket systems. Scuds are liquid-fueled which makes for a lengthy, complicated and potentially hazardous launching process compared to solid-fueled alternatives. They also require dedicated truck-sized launch platforms that are harder to smuggle into Lebanon, hide and employ without being spotted. The solid-fueled Fateh A-110s and M600s, on the other hand, are thought to be launched from converted shipping containers mounted on the backs of trucks. The roof of the shipping container flips open allowing the launch rail to be raised and the missile fired.

Most targets in Israel worthy of Hezbollah’s attention are found in the northern half of the country where the bulk of the population lives and where most of Israel’s military facilities, businesses and industries are located. There is relatively little worth striking in Israel south of a line drawn between Ashdod and Jerusalem, a distance of 143 kilometers from the Lebanese border, which puts the main target bank well within reach of the M600s, let alone fourth-generation Fatehs.

The one exception south of the Ashdod-Jerusalem line is Israel’s nuclear reactor at Dimona. If Israel were to launch an attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities, a retaliatory Scud strike by Hezbollah against Dimona may have been suitably reciprocal and possibly worth the logistical challenges posed by the missile. But if Hezbollah really has acquired the fourth-generation Fateh missile, the party would seem to no longer require the cumbersome Scuds for the purpose of attacking Dimona.

Lebanese source: Mobile missile launchers can hit any target in Israel | Defense Update:

 

[Shahryar Hedayati]

Hezbollah claims 'pinpoint' Iranian missiles added to its arsenal

The Lebanese Shiite militant group and close ally of Iran said it has received more advanced missiles, with greater range, as talks over Iran's nuclear program wind down in Vienna.

By Nicholas BlanfordNovember 23, 2014 2:14 PM

On the eve of a deadline in nuclear talks between six world powers and Iran, Lebanon’s militant Shiite Hezbollah organization has revealed that it has acquired advanced Iranian missiles with “pinpoint accuracy” that it could use against Israel in any future war.


“They [the Israelis] are well aware that Hezbollah is in possession of missiles with pinpoint accuracy, and thanks to the equipment Hezbollah acquired, and with the Islamic Republic’s support and Hezbollah’s readiness for any future war, [the next] war will be much tougher for the Israelis,” Naim Qassem, the deputy head of Hezbollah, said in an interview with Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

Mr. Qassem’s comments on Hezbollah’s enhanced missile capabilities and the threat they pose to Israel came amid waning hopes that a deal could be struck by a Monday deadline in Vienna between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany, the so-called P5+1. The six leading nations want Iran to curb its uranium enrichment capacity, which could be used to make nuclear weapons, in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions.

By late Sunday, negotiators were reportedly looking for a way to extend the talks beyond the deadline.

Watching the Vienna talks closely from the sidelines is Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has said he is concerned that any final deal between the P5+1 and Iran will be insufficient to curb what he says is Iran’s goal of building nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian use only.

In an Israeli cabinet meeting Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel is delivering a “firm stance” to its allies in insisting that Iran should not be allowed to become a “nuclear threshold state”.

“Therefore, no deal would be preferable to a bad deal that threatens Israel, the Middle East and all of humanity,” he said.

If there is no diplomatic breakthrough in Vienna, the drumbeat for military action against Iran will almost certainly be heard once more, raising tensions in a region already ravaged by conflict and radicalism.

Over the past decade, Iran has turned Hezbollah into a powerful military force with weapons capabilities unmatched by any other non-state actor. In May, a top Israeli army general said Hezbollah’s arsenal “would not shame any army in the world”.

Iran’s considerable military and financial investment in Hezbollah is intended to bolster Iran’s deterrence against a possible attack on its nuclear facilities. If Israel chooses to bomb Iran’s nuclear plants, it must first assess the response of Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

The stronger Hezbollah’s military capabilities, the greater the stakes for Israel in launching an attack on Iran. Twenty years ago, Hezbollah’s arsenal of unguided 12-mile range rockets allowed it to pepper parts of northern Israel only. Today, the missiles suspected to be in Hezbollah’s arsenal could slam half a tonne of high-grade explosive into specific targets in Tel Aviv, such as the Israeli defense ministry or Ben Gurion International Airport.

Two weeks ago, a senior officer in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that Iran had provided Hezbollah with its indigenously produced Fateh A-110 short-range ballistic missiles.

“Considering the range of their [Hezbollah’s] missiles, they are able now to attack targets from southern to northern parts of the occupied territories [Israel],” said Brigadier General Sayed Majid Moussavi, the IRGC’s air defense commander, according to a report by the Iranian Fars news agency.

The specific missile system to which Moussavi and Hezbollah’s Qassem referred is likely to be the 4th-generation version of the Fateh which has a range in excess of 186 miles and can carry a 1,430 pound warhead. Armed with that missile, Hezbollah could launch it from its camouflaged bases in southern Lebanon and hit Israel’s nuclear reactor at Dimona in southern Israel, 140 miles south of the border with Lebanon, achieving a degree of reciprocity for any Israeli air strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.


View Comments (812)

Hezbollah claims 'pinpoint' Iranian missiles added to its arsenal - Yahoo News

 

[Shahryar Hedayati]

@Falcon29

 

[kollang]

In a real scenario, they can use these expensive missiles to deactivate iron dome systems and strategic points such as power plants, Tel aviv airport and AF bases.cheap rockets will handle the rest.

 

[Kiarash]

In a real scenario, they can use these expensive missiles to deactivate iron dome systems and strategic points such as power plants, Tel aviv airport and AF bases.cheap rockets will handle the rest.

iron dome is a joke ....rather their airports!

 

[kollang]

iron dome is a joke ....rather their airports!

It seems working against cheap rockets like fajr-5 and zelzal. destroying those expensive systems are not only meant as a strategic victory but also as moral defeat.

 

[A.M.]

"In the past year, Israel is said to have attacked six missile-laden convoys, as well as missile storage sites, both in Syria and Lebanon, in a bid to prevent Syria from delivering ballistic missiles, anti-ship and anti-aircraft to Hezbollah."

Did someone say deterrent? Lol.

 

[SQ8]

"In the past year, Israel is said to have attacked six missile-laden convoys, as well as missile storage sites, both in Syria and Lebanon, in a bid to prevent Syria from delivering ballistic missiles, anti-ship and anti-aircraft to Hezbollah."

Did someone say deterrent? Lol.

Stating clearly that these missiles are from Iran means that some systems are essentially operational. How are they getting through? @500

 

[Bong]

Good job

 

[Shahryar Hedayati]

"

Did someone say deterrent? Lol.

They found 6 of those trucks
Good job Israhelll

---------------------------------------



Yes.. they are deterrent force.......
beacuse as we comenting , those missiles are ready to launch

 

[Falcon29]

@Falcon29

Give these to Hamas.

In a real scenario, they can use these expensive missiles to deactivate iron dome systems and strategic points such as power plants, Tel aviv airport and AF bases.cheap rockets will handle the rest.

Are you sure that's possible? You need intelligence as locations are confidential. But, they also have other missile systems intended to shoot ballistic missiles but not sure if they have enough batteries or if it will even work.

 

[Shahryar Hedayati]

Give these to Hamas.
.

 

[libertad]

In a real scenario, they can use these expensive missiles to deactivate iron dome systems and strategic points such as power plants, Tel aviv airport and AF bases.cheap rockets will handle the rest.

That's why they should give some to Hamas. If not these, then at least something formidable and deterrent.