Iran Tests Indigenous Rocket with Thermobaric Warhead

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force has test-launched a homegrown rocket equipped with a thermobaric warhead.

The test of the indigenous Fajr-5 (Dawn-5) rocket with a thermobaric warhead, which operates with a fuel-air explosive (FAE) system, was carried out on May 7, Iran’s state-owned media reported.

Fajr-5 is a 333-mm rocket, whose guided version, known as Fajr-5C, was earlier delivered to the IRGC Ground Force units and is currently furnished with a warhead with more destructive power.

The destructive power of the new thermobaric warhead, which uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, is reportedly 1.5 times greater than that of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and enhances the rocket’s blast radius and thermal effect.

The thermobaric explosive’s lower sensitivity than TNT has made it a safer option in comparison with conventional warheads.

Fajr-5 is known as the most advanced and longest-range version of the Fajr ground-to-ground rockets that have various classes with different functions. The 333-mm rocket that runs on solid fuel has single- and two-stage versions, with a range of 75 kilometers and 180 kilometers, respectively.

The new thermobaric warhead’s function would make the Fajr-5 rocket a suitable weapon for the fight against terrorist groups in mountainous and impassable terrain, where terrorists usually construct their shelters and trenches.