Raad or Ra'd ( fa, رعد, meaning "thunder") is an Iranian modern
aerial defence system deployed in September 2012.The system is designed to enhance Iran's capabilities in terms of defense, and as a partner to
Bavar 373
Bavar-373 ( fa, باور-۳۷۳, meaning ''Belief'' and ''373'' being Abjad for ''یا رسولالله'' or ''O, Messenger of Allah!'') is an Iranian long-range road-mobile surface-to-air missile system unveiled in August 2016. Iran describes ...
air defense system. According to
Fars news agency
The Fars News Agency is a news agency in Iran managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an armed wing loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency", it is widely descr ...
the Raad is designed to confront fighter jets, cruise missiles, smart bombs, helicopters and drones. The system is also designed specially for US fighters.
The system is equipped with "Taer" (Bird) missiles, which can trace and hit targets in ranges up to 105 km and in altitudes from 25 to 27 km (80,000 feet), Ra'd is a mid-range radar system and air defense system.
History
During Velayat 91 maneuvers in December 2012 the
Iranian Navy
, ''Daryādelān''"Seahearts"
, patron =
, motto = fa, راه ما، راه حسین است, ''Rāh-e ma, rāh-e hoseyn ast''"''Our Path, Is Hussain's Path''"
, colors =
...
successfully tested the Raad Air Defense System but it is not clear if the Raad missile tested in Iranian Navy is the same one as the
Taer-2 missile of Raad system designed by the IRGC Aerospace Force and it may be only a similarity between a surface to air missile and an air defense system.
In May 2014 the
(IRGC-AF) unveiled four different configuration of Raad air defense system:
3rd Khordad TELAR(Transporter erector launcher and radar) which is equipped with Taer-2B missiles, a phased-array radar and is able to control two launchers;
Tabas
Tabas ( fa, طبس, also Romanized as Ṭabas), formerly known as Golshan, is the capital city of Tabas County in South Khorasan Province of Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 35,150, in 9,903 families.
Tabas is located in central Iran, ...
TELAR
A transporter erector launcher (TEL) is a missile vehicle with an integrated tractor unit that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles.
History
Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles and surface-to-su ...
which features a white dome radar and uses Taer-2A missiles; Alam al hoda launcher is equipped with electro-optical tracking systems; and Raad-2 which has a new wheeled launcher and uses electro-optical systems on separate vehicles with a range of 80 km.
![Raad air defense system Tehran](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Raad_air_defense_system_Tehran.jpg)
In the IRGC-AF exhibition in May 2014 announced that new versions of 3rd Khordad SAM system will reach to ranges about 100 and 200 km with new missiles.
The 3rd Khordad (3rd of Khordad) system can engage with 4 targets and guide 2 missile to each of them simultaneously with the aid of its phased array radar that has 1700 elements.
Jane's
Jane's Information Group, now styled Janes, is a global open-source intelligence company specialising in military, national security, aerospace and transport topics, whose name derives from British author Fred T. Jane.
History
Jane's Informat ...
describes the
3rd Khordad as "a highly capable surface-to-air missile (SAM) system."
Iran has also developed another SAM system named RAAD-1 with TAER-1 missiles.
Downing of an American drone
On 19 June 2019, an American
RQ-4 ''Global Hawk'' UAV was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile while over the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials said the drone was shot down by a
3rd Khordad medium-range SAM system, which is part of the Raad family of air defense systems.
The following day Iran said the US drone had violated Iranian airspace, while the United States said that it had been in international airspace eighteen
nautical mile
A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...
s (34
km) away from Iran.
See also
*
Mersad
Mersad ( Persian: مرصاد, meaning 'Ambush') is an Iranian low- to mid-range air defense system developed in 2010. It fires Shahin (Falcon) missiles which are reverse-engineered, domestically upgraded versions of the American MIM-23 Hawk sur ...
*
Sayyad-2
Sayyad ( fa, صیاد, Hunter) is a serie of solid fuel surface-to-air missiles (SAM) manufactured by Iran.
Sayyad-1
Sayyad-1 is the Iranian upgraded version of the Chinese HQ-2 SAM, however it differs from the Chinese versions in guidance a ...
*
Ya Zahra air defense system
Ya Zahra ( Persian: یا زهراء, O Zahra) is an Iranian unlicensed copy of the HQ-7, itself an unlicensed copy of the French Crotale missile short-range air defense
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the bat ...
Systems of comparable role, configuration and era
*
Buk
References
External link
{{Iran Missiles
Surface-to-air missiles of Iran
21st-century surface-to-air missiles
Post–Cold War weapons of Iran
Military equipment introduced in the 2010s