Ra'ad ( fa, رعد, lit=lightning) is an
Iranian designed and built
subsonic
Subsonic may refer to:
Motion through a medium
* Any speed lower than the speed of sound within a sound-propagating medium
* Subsonic aircraft, a flying machine that flies at air speeds lower than the speed of sound
* Subsonic ammunition, a type o ...
anti-ship cruise missile
An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good ...
.
The missile is a
reverse engineered and upgraded variant of
China's
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
Silkworm anti-ship missile.
The missile was developed by the state-run
Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO).
Iran reportedly began full production of the Ra’ad in January 2004 and went into service in 2007.
The missile is equipped for ground and ship-launched platforms.
Development
During the
Iran-Iraq War, China supplied Iran with numerous types of missile which included two variants of the
Silkworm
The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...
anti-ship missile, the
HY-2
The SY (), and HY () series were early anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) developed by the People's Republic of China from the Soviet P-15 Termit missile. They entered service in the late 1960s and remained the main ASCMs deployed by the People's ...
and
HY-4. Prior to the post-war period, Iran's military was heavily dependent on foreign weaponry supplied mainly by the
United Kingdom and the
United States of America. In order to achieve independence and reduce foreign expenditure in the arms sphere, Iran engaged in a campaign of reverse engineering and producing any weaponry it possessed.
The Ra'ad was one of the weapons which Iran reverse engineered.
The Silkworm variant which the Ra'ad is based on exactly is unknown and disputed. However, some sources state that it is based on the HY-2 and others stating that it is based on the HY-4.
It is unknown when the development stage began but it is known that the full production of the missile began in January 2004.
The Ra’ad was successfully test fired on 7 February 2007.
This was confirmed by then Deputy Air Force Commander Ali Fadavi who said: “We have successfully test fired a cruise missile called SSN4, or Raad, hitting targets 300 kilometres away in the Sea of Oman and northern Indian Ocean.”
Features
The Ra'ad is an
anti-ship cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...
that is capable of being launched from both surface and sea platforms. The engine of the Ra'ad utilizes a
solid-propellant booster with a
turbojet engine and employs an
inertial navigation system and
terminal guidance, the exact type of terminal guidance is unknown but ''IHS Jane's Weapons'' states that it is "likely infared imaging or an active radar system." The missile also has sea-skimming capabilities, with the ability to fly at low-altitudes to evade radar detection and missile defences.
Operators
*- The missile was tested in a naval exercise in April 2010, flying 300 km.
The Ra'ad is currently in active service and is primarily deployed along the Persian Gulf and on various naval vessels.
See also
*
Noor
References
External links
CSIS Missile Threat - Ra'ad
Anti-ship missiles of Iran
Anti-ship cruise missiles
Cruise missiles of Iran
Anti-ship missiles
Surface-to-surface missiles of Iran
Anti-ship cruise missiles of Iran
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