Defence & Security News - Iran

Lieutenant Commander of Iranian Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base General Shahrokh Shahram announced on Saturday, April 26, 2014, that Iran has equipped its long-range S-200 anti-aircraft system with a new powerful and high-precision missile dubbed 'Sayyad (Hunter) 3'.

Iranian army S-200 surface-to-air defense missile system

"The Sayyad 3 missile has added a new capability to the S-200," Shahram said in Tehran on today.

"Using this missile in the S-200 system, mid-altitude targets can be hit," he added.

Shahram said that the S-200 missile shield had earlier been equipped with Sayyad 2 missiles.

The Iranian defense ministry inaugurated the production line of Sayyad 2 in November 2011.

The production line of the missile was launched in a ceremony attended by former Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan.

“The designing and production of Sayyad 2 missile was brought on agenda to have the needed defensive tool for confronting (possible) air raids,” Dehqan said, addressing the ceremony in Tehran at the time.

“The missile enjoys a solid fuel engine with a combined guiding system and high operational capabilities,” he added.

Dehqan explained that Sayyad 2 is a missile for mid-range and high-altitude air defense systems, designed based on the state-of-the-art technologies which can destroy different types of helicopters, drones and targets with small radar cross-section and high speed and maneuverability within its operational range.

Iran successfully test-fired Sayyad 2 in 2011.

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.

Iran announced in August 2013 that it has used the latest home-made missile production, Sayyad 2, in its sophisticated S-200 anti-aircraft system.

Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli told reporters in Tehran at the time that the country has used "Sayyad 2 missiles in its S-200 defense systems", adding that the restructuring of the system was the result of the industrious efforts made by experts at the Iranian defense industries and his base.

In November 2010, Iran successfully test-fired its sophisticated S-200 anti-aircraft missile systems.

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.

Each missile is launched by 4 solid-fueled strap-on rocket boosters. Maximum range is between 200 and 350 km depending on the model. The missile uses radio illumination mid-course correction to fly towards the target with a terminal semi active radar homing phase.