Iranian Testing New Supersonic Missiles

The Islamic nation has announced it has acquired supersonic cruise missile technology. Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday that the missiles are now undergoing tests and “will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the defense power of our country.”

According to the state-linked Tasnim news website, the new missiles could “significantly accelerate the Islamic Republic of Iran’s response time in case of any combat and take away attacking forces’ opportunity for reaction”.

There is currently no concrete information regarding when this missile will be unveiled to the public, but these kinds of reports are not new. According to Interesting Engineering, rumors started in November of last year when the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s aerospace unit, Amirali Hajizadeh, claimed that the country had developed a hypersonic missile. Despite widespread skepticism, in May 2023 Iran indeed unveiled a new ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km and a payload capacity of 907 kg and confirmed plans to soon make public a hypersonic missile. According to reports by Iranian sources, the missile can maneuver itself both inside and outside the atmosphere and can fly at speeds between 12-15 Mach.

Finally, in June 2023 the Islamic nation announced the development of its first hypersonic ballistic missile, reportedly capable of evading radars and breaching any defense system.

This whole matter has greatly increased the tensions between Iran and the US, with the US assigning two warships with more than 3,000 military staff to the Red Sea to help protect shipping lanes from Iranian “harassment.” This was not well received by Iran, who responded by further equipping its IRGC forces with more drones and missiles.