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Iran Conducts First Launch of Sayyad-3G Naval Air Defense Missile From Shahid Sayyad Shirazi Corvette.
Iranian state media released footage of the IRGC Navy warship Shahid Sayyad Shirazi launching a vertical-launch Sayyad-3 variant during drills in the Strait of Hormuz. The test signals Tehran’s move to field long-range naval air defense on its newest missile corvettes in one of the world’s most strategically sensitive waterways.
On 17 February 2026, Iranian media published footage of the warship Shahid Sayyad Shirazi (FS313-03) launching a vertical-launch Sayyad-3 variant during a naval drill in the Strait of Hormuz. The video, released by the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and rebroadcast by several Iranian outlets, including Mashregh News, quickly circulated across social media platforms. This launch is presented as the first operational firing at sea of what observers identify as the Sayyad-3G, a navalized version of the long-range Sayyad-3 surface-to-air missile family with a range of around 150 km. For regional navies, the event is significant because it confirms that Iran is now pairing its newest vertical-launch air defense missiles with its most modern missile corvettes in one of the world’s most sensitive maritime chokepoints.
Iran’s IRGC Navy has publicly demonstrated a shipborne launch of the long-range Sayyad-3G air defense missile from the warship Shahid Sayyad Shirazi during drills in the Strait of Hormuz, signaling expanded naval air defense reach in a critical maritime corridor (Iranian Media / IRGC Navy)
According to Mashregh News and other Iranian media, the launch occurred during the “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz” exercise, a drill designed to demonstrate integrated surveillance and fire-control across the narrow waterway. The footage shows Shahid Sayyad Shirazi steadying on course before a single canister-stored missile erupts vertically from the forward section of the ship, where the class’s vertical launch system (VLS) is located. Open-source monitoring accounts on X had previously highlighted still images of the same launcher, describing it as the first clear view of the vertical-launch Sayyad-3F family missile at sea; the latest reports now refer to this specific naval configuration as Sayyad-3G rather than earlier provisional labels such as Sayyad-3N. Although Tehran has not yet publicly detailed the exact designation, the sequence of images and videos indicates that the missile tested from Shahid Sayyad Shirazi is a vertically launched, ship-integrated evolution of the land-based Sayyad-3.
Shahid Sayyad Shirazi itself is one of the newest ships in the Shahid Soleimani class of missile corvettes operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. Commissioned in 2024 and displacing roughly 600 tonnes, the catamaran-hull vessel is constructed largely from aluminum alloys and is shaped to reduce radar cross-section, giving it a markedly stealthier profile than earlier Iranian surface combatants. The class is designed around long-range missile warfare: each ship carries anti-ship cruise missiles in deck-mounted box launchers and a VLS block behind the bridge that is believed to host six larger cells for land-attack or anti-ship cruise missiles and sixteen smaller cells for surface-to-air missiles such as the Sayyad-2 and Sayyad-3. In addition, Shahid Sayyad Shirazi is reported to be equipped with a radar suite derived from the system used on the frigate Sahand, giving it enhanced air-search and fire-control coverage compared with earlier IRGC Navy vessels.
The Sayyad-3 family itself sits at the upper tier of Iran’s domestically produced air defense missiles. Developed as a solid-fuel, high-altitude surface-to-air missile, Sayyad-3 is credited in Iranian and open-source reporting with an engagement envelope in the 120–150 km class, and an interception altitude of roughly 27–30 km, depending on the launcher and guidance architecture. The Sayyad-3F, a vertically launched version already associated with the Arman and Talash-3 air defense systems, has been described in Iranian analyses as a roughly 6.1-meter missile weighing about one ton, designed to engage a spectrum of threats from low-flying cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles to high-performance aircraft. The new navalized Sayyad-3G appears to adapt this configuration to the maritime environment, combining a hot-launch VLS architecture with inertial mid-course guidance and radar-based terminal homing, enabling engagements in a cluttered sea-level radar picture. While precise performance data for Sayyad-3G have not been released, it is reasonable to expect a similar 150 km-class range and high-altitude interception capability, tailored to provide area air defense for a task group rather than point defense alone.
By firing a Sayyad-3G from Shahid Sayyad Shirazi’s VLS, Iran is effectively demonstrating that its new generation of small missile corvettes can carry not only long-range anti-ship and land-attack weapons, but also a layered air defense suite integrated on board. The Shahid Soleimani class was already notable for providing the IRGC Navy with a platform capable of launching long-range cruise missiles such as Ghader or Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, alongside shorter-range Nasir anti-ship missiles and close-in gun systems. The addition of a credible long-range surface-to-air missile such as Sayyad-3G transforms the role of these ships from primarily offensive missile carriers into multi-role combatants that can protect themselves and nearby units against air and missile threats, extending an air defense dome over accompanying fast attack craft or auxiliary vessels.
Deploying a 150 km-class naval surface-to-air missile from a relatively small catamaran in the Strait of Hormuz has direct implications for air operations over and around this narrow passage. The Strait is only about 21 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point, with heavily used traffic separation schemes that concentrate commercial and military vessels into a confined area. A Shahid Soleimani-class ship armed with Sayyad-3G could, in theory, threaten high-value airborne assets such as maritime patrol aircraft, electronic-intelligence platforms, tanker aircraft operating in support of regional air forces, and certain types of standoff weapons or reconnaissance drones, at ranges that overlap with land-based air defense coverage. This layered engagement geometry complicates mission planning for any air force or navy operating in the Gulf region, as threat axes would no longer be limited to known coastal batteries and fixed radar sites but would also include mobile, sea-based launchers that can maneuver and mask among civilian traffic.
The launch underscores how Iran is gradually reshaping the balance between its traditional swarm-boat doctrine and a more conventional blue-water posture. The IRGC Navy has in recent years commissioned multiple Shahid Soleimani-class corvettes and a drone carrier, Shahid Bahman Bagheri, creating for the first time a task group concept that combines unmanned systems, long-range cruise missiles, and now ship-borne area air defense. Integrating Sayyad-3G into this force structure strengthens Iran’s anti-access and area-denial architecture in the northern Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman by enabling mobile air defense bubbles to accompany surface groups far from the protective umbrella of coastal systems such as Khordad-15, Arman, or Bavar-373. Even if the exact performance of the naval system remains to be fully verified, the political and deterrent messaging is clear: Iranian surface groups are intended to operate with greater autonomy and survivability against air and missile threats.
The timing and framing of the launch also carry a signaling dimension. Conducting the firing during the “Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz” exercise and disseminating high-quality video via official channels suggests that the IRGC Navy sought to visibly showcase the integration of its newest missile technologies to domestic and foreign audiences alike. Multiple Iranian outlets amplified the imagery, while international open-source analysts debated the exact variant designation and inferred layout of the vertical launching system from the footage. This pattern mirrors previous unveilings of Iranian air defense systems, where limited but carefully curated technical details are released to demonstrate progress while still preserving ambiguity about full capabilities. For neighboring states, partners, and extra-regional navies, the key takeaway is less the name of the missile variant and more the evident trajectory: Iran is moving to deploy land-based strategic air defense technologies in a maritime format on relatively compact, mobile platforms.
The Shahid Sayyad Shirazi launch of a Sayyad-3G missile marks an incremental but meaningful step in Iran’s effort to equip its newest missile corvettes with long-range, vertically launched air defense systems tightly integrated with modern sensors and command architecture. The event confirms that the IRGC Navy is no longer relying solely on coastal batteries and point-defense guns for protection at sea, but is instead building a more capable, layered naval air defense posture in and around the Strait of Hormuz. In an environment where even limited changes in range, reaction time, and mobility can alter operational risk calculations, this demonstration will be closely monitored by regional and international actors seeking to understand how future crises in these waters might unfold.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.