Iran Unveils Air-to-Ground Rocket, 700 km Missile

Iran has unveiled two new weapons- an air-to-ground rocket and a 700 km missile- both of which look aimed at the export market.

Iran has been supplying weapons to Syria and other countries in the Middle East and Africa for free. With the expiry of UN sanctions next month, it wants to be an arms exporter.

The weapons were put on display in the “National Aerospace Park” in Tehran, a permanent IRGC exhibition venue that was inaugurated on Sunday.

The new Fadak-class guided rocket is meant to be armed on Sukhoi Su-22 jets. Tehran has produced Fadak 80 mm rocket inspired by the Soviet-made S-8s earlier. But the new one is an air-to-surface version with four fins near its head, used to guide the rocket to its intended target.

These rockets equipped with high-explosive anti-armor warheads. Fadak rockets weigh 11-16 kg, travel at a speed of 700m/s and an hit the targets within a range of 2-4km.

IRGC also showcased “Zolfaqar Basir” ballistic missile with a range of 700km, more than double the range of Iran’s previous missiles - Persian Gulf (300km) and Hormuz (250km). The weapon’s warhead is equipped with an optical seeker.

The ground-to-ground version of Zolfaqar missile (range- 750km) was used in an operation against Daesh terrorists in Syria in October 2018 and in a missile attack on the U.S. airbase of Ain al-Assad in Iraq in January 2020, Iranian media reported.