(Dan Tri) – After Iran’s recent response with UAVs, ballistic and cruise missiles against Israel, there is a perception that Tehran has not yet used its full strength and still retains its `trump card` to prevent war.
Iran shows off the power of its ballistic missile systems (Photo: Townhall).
Tasnim – Iran’s official news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – published a report clarifying the retaliatory attack.
The report said that Tehran did not use its most sophisticated missiles in `Operation True Promise` to attack Israel on April 14, but only used older weapons combined with some upgraded missiles to attack Israel on April 14.
The IRGC’s raids on the night of April 13 and 14 – launched in response to Israel’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1 – achieved the goal of mapping the Syrian defense lines.
Accordingly, the IRGC may have partly grasped Israel’s strongest air and missile defense capabilities – supported by the US, UK, France and Jordan – through the use of both old and new tactics with many attacks.
First wave
As previously reported, last week’s attacks began using the Shahed-136 UAV, which flies toward the target at a speed of about 185km/h, is noisy and easily detected thanks to its wing motors.
According to Tasnim, the more advanced Shahed-238 – a jet-powered variant of the Shahed-136 – has not been used, refuting some media claims that these new generation UAVs
Iran’s Shahed 136 UAV (Photo: Sputnik).
According to OSINT, the Shahed-238 has a reported top speed of at least 500km/h (some sources say 800km/h) and has a radar-absorbent coating.
The first strike was designed to distract Israeli and allied forces, forcing them to spend time searching for and intercepting Shahed-136s in the night sky and engaging them instead of conducting a
Second wave
After the UAVs, the IRGC moved on to a second attack, which saw the firing of the Paveh – a long-range surface-to-surface smart cruise missile with foldable wings and the ability to change course and target mid-flight.
Fired from launchers mounted on mobile truck chassis, these jet-powered missiles have a reported range of over 1,000km (other sources say 1,650km) and speeds ranging from
Third wave
The third and final attack began after midnight on April 14 Iranian time, and included the firing of ballistic missiles, which entered Israeli airspace minutes after launch.
Tasnim’s analysis indicates that the IRGC has not played its `trump card` in using its most advanced missiles, including the Sejjil, Khorramshahr, Kheibar Shekan 2 or its new hypersonic Fatah series missiles.
Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the Aerospace Forces of the IRGC, announced Iran’s self-made hypersonic missile Fattah on June 6, 2023 in Tehran (Photo: Tasnim).
Instead, based on consideration of missiles with sufficient range and power characteristics, the report notes that the IRGC may choose Dezful, Qiam-2, Rezvan, Kheibar Shekan 1, Emad and Qadr missiles.
These missiles have a range of 1,000 to 1,950km, and all except the Dezful and Kheibar Shekan use liquid-fueled propulsion.
The Farsi version of Tasnim’s report provides more details about the ballistic missile attacks, noting that due to the distance between the two countries, the Israeli military and its allies were unable to attack.
The US Aegis is said to be the only anti-missile system capable of attacking Iranian missiles flying outside the atmosphere provided there is enough radar data.
The report also confirms observations made by several independent military analysts this week: that the ballistic missiles Tehran used in the attacks `contained micro-warheads or fragmentation warheads`, making the system
This news agency explained: `In the published videos, such projectiles resemble a burning object or part of a downed missile, while this type of projectile will scatter in many different directions.
`The utility of the fragmentation warhead seems to be aimed at attracting the heat-seeking warheads of air defense missiles or ground-based infrared reconnaissance systems`, forcing the defense force to open fire, leading to inventory depletion.
Furthermore, Tasnim said, phenomena observed in the filming moments before warhead impact, including acceleration of the missile and change of direction as it descended on the target, appeared to indicate the use of
In the final analysis, the report said that while Israel `will need months or even years to upgrade its missile defense capabilities, Iran has yet to use its trump cards, such as missiles.`
Tasnim warned that if the crisis escalated now, Iran could repeat the tactic it used last week on a larger scale, this time firing a first round of older missiles to overwhelm defenses.
