Few countries have been able to deploy hypersonic weapons in their militaries, let alone from warships, due to the size requirements of the platforms.
The Iranian regime has claimed a capability that few countries on the planet have been able to achieve, save for a few select nations led by the United States and China: putting hypersonic missiles on a warship.
On Tuesday, several Iranian state media outlets published articles claiming that the head of the Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, had declared that the new Damavand-2 frigate would be equipped with hypersonic missiles. The state news agency IRNA said that the Damavand-2 would enter service in the Iranian Navy in the coming days.
The exact specifications of the Damavand-2 are unknown, although analysis of the images suggests a vessel of approximately 1,500 tons displacement and about 100m in length. The vessel is likely a continuation or sub-variant of the Moudge-class light frigates operated by the Iranian Navy.
By comparison, the British River-class Batch 2 patrol boats displace around 2,000 tons and measure just over 90 meters in length.
With such a light displacement and the dimensions of the Damavand-2, it is unclear how Iran, if its claims are valid, has been able to house hypersonic missiles.
Generally speaking, a hypersonic missile must be capable of traveling at speeds greater than Mach 5, up to Mach 25 and beyond.
The US-Japanese RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) Block IIA missile, developed by Raytheon and Mitsubishi, is an exoatmospheric anti-aircraft missile, reportedly capable of traveling at speeds of up to 4.5 km/s, or about Mach 13. Measuring about 6.7m in length, the SM-3 can be fired from the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) commonly equipped on US and Japanese warships.
The American manufacturer of the VLS Mk 41, Lockheed Martin, states that the module is available in two sizes: attack and tactical. The attack module is 7.6m long and typically houses larger cruise missiles and ballistic missile defense munitions, while the smaller tactical module is 6.7m long.
China has flight-tested its DF-ZF hypersonic anti-ship missile, although its length of about 11m is considerably longer than US alternatives. Another hypersonic missiles used by China are the embarked hypersonic YJ-21, which is in service aboard the PLAN’s Type 055 destroyers.
Is Iran’s hypersonic claim viable, or is it another Qaher 313?
Iran has previously claimed that it has developed advanced military hardware, such as a fifth-generation stealth fighter, the Qaher 313, in 2013, though its claims were widely dismissed as propaganda as the platform appeared to be fightable and it was potentially no more than a ground model.
However, Harshavardhan Dabbiru, a defense and aerospace analyst at GlobalData, said that Iran has its own missile design and manufacturing capability, and any such system installed on the Damavand-2 is likely to be based on the hypersonic ballistic missile. Fattah 2 was recently released.
The Fattah, which appears to be about 10 m in length, has a speed of Mach 13-15 and a range of about 1,400 km.
“In recent years, Iran has developed various ground-attack missiles, such as the Dezful, the Fattah, the Hajj Qasem Soleimani, the Kheibar Shekan, the Khorramshahr-4 (Kheibar) and the Rezvan,” Dabbiru stated, adding that, although Iranian capabilities “seem exaggerated,” they “are not far-fetched.”
In addition, Dabbiru stated that while Iran’s increased missile capabilities did not “immediately” pose a threat to the United States and its allies in the Middle East region, these countries would have to be “cautious” at the pace, of Tehran development in the area.
Examples of Iran’s ability to use this system include its retaliation for killing Major General Qasem Soleimani, head of the country’s al-Quds paramilitary force, in a US drone strike, in which long-range missiles targeted US bases in Iraq.
“Iran’s missile attacks on US bases in 2020 and on Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq in 2022, as well as Iran’s plans to export domestically produced missiles to Russia, show the growth of missile manufacturing capabilities of the country,” Dabbiru said.
Iran has also cultivated close relations with Russia and China as Western sanctions prevent it from doing business with much of the world.
Tehran has also provided an unknown number of Shahed 131 loitering munitions to Russia for use in Moscow’s war in Ukraine, with the systems seen hitting civilian areas across the country, and it may be able to increase its contributions to the cause of Russia with long-range missiles.
Richard Thomas
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