Iran fires radar-beating missile during Gulf drill

[xchrom]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/01/uk-iran-missile-idUKTRE80007I20120101

(Reuters) - Iran test-fired a new medium-range missile, designed to evade radars, on Sunday during the last days of its naval drill in the Gulf, the official IRNA news agency quoted a military official as saying.

The 10-day naval exercise coincided with increased tension in Iran's nuclear row with Western powers, after the European Union said it was considering a ban - already in place in the United States - on imports of Iranian oil.

"The mid-range surface to air missile which is equipped with the latest sophisticated anti-radar technologies has been successfully test-fired," Deputy Navy Commander Mahmoud Mousavi told IRNA.

Iran delayed testing its long-range missiles during the drill, saying the weapons would be launched in the next few days.

[FreakinDJ]

1. Did Halliburton sell the "Radar Evasion Technology" to Iran

[Lurks Often]

2. Just because the Iranians say it evades radar

doesn't make it true.

Stealth works because the design and materials of a stealth aircraft prevent the radar beam from sending a strong enough return back to the radar dish.

You fly below the radar's line of sight, which works only until the object comes within line of sight of the radar.
This method reduces the amount of time defensive systems have to work

You jam the radar by overloading the radar dish with energy. While this prevents the radar from seeing an object, it does notify the operator of the radar that something is coming. This requires sophisticated electronics not currently seen in other Iranian military equipment. Additionally some Nato air to air and surface to air missiles have the ability to home on the jamming signal.

[JohnnyRingo]

3. A few years ago they claimed to have completed work on a supersonic torpedo.

They're keeping it safely under wraps, of course.
Scientists say it bends the laws of physics, and the Pentagon says it bends the truth. I'll side with the brains instead of the paranoics on that one.

A radar spoofing missile may be feasable, but I'd have to assume the country that spends more on defense than Iran takes in from oil sales would already have one (indeed, we may).

Here's the bad news about such expensive military wares programs. They cost an enormous amount of money to develop, and a fraction of the cost to defeat. We spent a kings ransom developing stealth technology back in the '80s and kept it hidden for years. We didn't brag about it, it was an ace up the sleeve, but there's a reason as well.

After we began using stealth planes regularly in the Middle East, Iraqis noticed that while they didn't show up on a radar screen, they would cause an anomoly as they passed individual cell phone towers. Simple triangulation could reveal the plane's course and speed. This time it wasn't a trillion dollars down the drain though, now we just take out their cell towers before sending them in.

Iranian leaders tend to lie about their military prowess, partly for global recognition, and in a big part for survival in a tough neighborhood. It's always going to be a hard knock life for someone who sells addictive substances like crack or oil.

[lacrew]

4. I'm slightly skeptical

Probably fired nothing......voila, nothing showed up on RADAR did it?

[rustydog]

5. WARNING! PANIC! Be very afraid They are trying to get nukes More $$$ for Defense Spending NOW!

Kiss my ass. I don't care what they have. I don't care how many they have.
There will always be enemies in the world. There will be people and nations that absolutely HATE America and christian Americans.
(Kinda like how Republicans have successfully aided the growing distrust hatred of Muslims and percieved Muslims.)

We already spend more on defense than all naitons in the world combined and then some. We could cut defense spending by 70% and still spend more on defense than all nations in the world combined.

Our navy is so massive, we could cut it by 80% and still kick every nations asses in a naval battle.

I am sick and tired of evil country news stories.

[Ikonoklast]

6. Hmmm. "Succesfully test-fired." Hmmm.

OK, the rocket motor ignited, and the missile flew.

Nowhere does this article say, nor do the Iranians claim, that it succesully evaded being detected by radar.

I launched an Invisible ICBM the other day, and the test-firing was a complete success.

Doesn't mean that the 'invisible' part actually worked, it meant the stupid thing got off the ground.

[roamer65]

7. I am more worried about the Russian SS-N-22 "Sunburn" missiles they have.

We have nothing that can stop them and yes...the Iranians have them.

[Lurks Often]

8. While it's top speed is quite high

there is more to how effective a missile will be then how fast it is (and to a lesser degree, how big the warhead is). How good the radar seeker is and how susceptible to jamming and other countermeasures is very important. Given a maximum listed effective range of about 70-75 miles, no ship carrying the missile be allowed with range during active hostilities. In the case of Iran, any ships (if any are capable) carrying the missile and any land based emplacements will be made a high priority target for the B-2's and the cruise missiles that the US will use in the opening hours. Other related high priority targets would be any radars near Sunburn lunch sites and command, communications and control sites.

In other words, while it is a dangerous missile, by itself it is extremely unlikely that it would change the end result of what would happen if shooting broke out between the US and Iran. In such an event, the US decisively wins (in a strictly military sense) anything short of a full scale invasion of Iran, something that is very unlikely.