Iran Deploys Home-Made Missile System in All Air-Defense Units
Senior Iranian military officials announced on Monday that the country's latest home-made missile system, Sayyad 2, has been deployed in all air-defense units across the country.Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli told FNA that the new air-defense system would boost the capabilities of Iran's air-defense units to a large degree.As regards the capabilities of the new missile system, Esmayeeli stated that the system will "increase the range, altitude and tracking and interception power of the country's missile shield".
"Its upgraded and digitalized system has increased the power and precision of Sayyad 2 missile system," the commander reiterated.Iran successfully test-fired its latest air-defense missile system, Sayyad 2, last month.Iran had earlier unveiled Sayyad 1 surface-to-air missile which is a two-staged air defense missile that is capable of destroying targets with low Radar Cross Section (RCS) at low and medium altitudes. The system enjoys the capability to defuse jamming and electronic warfare attacks. Sayyad 2 is an upgraded version and enjoys higher precision, range and destruction power compared with its previous version.
Esmayeeli had earlier this month announced that Iran has a comprehensive plan to strengthen its air defense capability by using a combination of various missile defense systems for different altitudes."We are working on strengthened air-defense citadels, and we make use of all systems for all altitudes to keep these citadels strong," he told reported early May.The commander added that the Iranian air defense unit can cover an area, at least, 80,000 feet in altitude.
In April, 2011,Iran successfully test-fired two mid-range Hawk missiles named 'Shahin' capable of tracing and targeting aggressive aircraft at low and medium altitudes. The two Shahin missiles were launched from a home-made air defense system named 'Mersad'.The Mersad air defense shield is a completely indigenized system developed by the Iranian experts and technicians to promote the country's combat power. The system was deployed in all Army air-defense units on Sunday to boost the country's air-defense power. The Mersad system equipped with Shahin missiles is capable of tracing and targeting any enemy aircrafts at 70 to 150km altitude and is considered as a mid-altitude system among the country's missile defense shields.
SAYYAD-2 medium-to-high altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) system
The Sayyad-2 static surface-to-air missile system is a further development of the Sayad-1 series, which in itself is a development of the Russian S-75 (NATO SA-2 Guideline) system. The Sayyad 2 is better in precision, range and destruction power. The Sayyad series is also heavily influenced by the Chinese HQ-2 and may benefit from North Korean technology input. Other reports not yet confirmed suggest the updated Sayyad series to be strongly influenced by HAWK and Standard missiles in current Iranian armed forces inventory. The Sayyad-2 was unveiled in April 2011. In May 2011, Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli told FNA (Iranian press agency that the new air-defense system Sayyad-2 has been deployed in all air-defense units across Iran.
In static position, the Sayyad-2 is mounted to a launcher station as the Russian made SA-2 missile. The basic design qualifies as semi-mobile, requiring several hours to set up or redeploy a battery. Each missile is carried by a semi-trailer towed by a Mercedes-Benz 2624 6x6 truck, and needs to be loaded onto a fixed launcher before firing. The loading usually takes about 5 minutes but this really depends on the training and experience of missile operators.
The Sayyad-2 is a two stage guided missile, with a large solid propellant booster stage fitted with four very large delta fins.The warhead of the Sayyad-2 weighs 200 kg and is a HE internally grooved fragmentation type with proximity, contact and command-type fuzing available. The Sayad 2 fligt at 3,600 km/h and has a range of 80 - 100 km and includes ECCM (Electronic Counter-Counter Measures) equipment.
The Sayyad-2 missile, considering it's medium range can be applied for targets, rather in low or high altitude. also it has capability for protecting the economic, political and social centres. Sayyad-2 is capable of destroying targets with low Radar Cross Section (RCS) at low and medium altitudes. The main mission of this missile, can be defined for destruction of bombers and reconnaissance aircraft.
Sayyad 2 air-defense system which has passed the tests in recent days is scheduled to be unveiled in the near future.
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Iran had earlier unveiled Sayyad 1 surface to air missile which is a two-staged air defense missile that is capable of destroying targets with low Radar Cross Section (RCS) at low and medium altitudes.
The system enjoys the capability to defuse jamming and electronic warfare attacks.
The Tor-M1 is a short range, mobile air defense system intended for engagement of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, UAVs, and cruise missiles flying between medium and very low altitudes even in severe countermeasures environments.
Iran's S-200 system is a very long range, medium-to-high altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) system designed to defend large areas from bomber attack or other strategic aircrafts. Each battalion has 6 single-rail missile launchers and fire control radar. It can be linked to other, longer-range radar systems.