TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Tuesday it had tested what it called a "super-modern flying boat" capable of evading radar. State TV showed a brief clip of the boat's launch.
"Due to its advanced design, no radar at sea or in the air can detect it. It can lift out of the water," the television said. It said the boat was "all Iranian-made and can launch missiles with precise targeting while moving."
On Monday Iran said it tested a second new radar-avoiding missile during war games in the Persian Gulf that the military says are aimed at preparing the country's defenses against the United States.
The new surface-to-sea missile is equipped with remote-control and searching systems, the state-run television reported Tuesday.
On Friday, the country tested the Fajr-3, a missile that it said can avoid radars and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads. Iran also has tested what it calls two new torpedoes.
The Revolutionary Guards, the elite branch of Iran's military, have been holding their maneuvers — code-named the "Great Prophet" — since Friday, touting what they call domestically built technological advances in their armed forces.
(Story continues below)
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But some experts say it appears some of the technology has come from other countries, possibly Russia, and some experts also have questioned just how adept the missiles are at evading radar.
It has not been possible to verify Iran's claims for the new armaments. But the country has made clear it aims to send a message of strength to the United States amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.
The U.N. Security Council has demanded Iran give up uranium enrichment, a crucial part of the nuclear process. Washington is pressing for sanctions if Tehran continues its refusal to do so, though U.S. officials have not ruled out military action as an eventual option, insisting they will not allow Iran to gain a nuclear arsenal.
In Russia, a Kremlin-allied lawmaker on Tuesday criticized the recent torpedo and missile tests as a counterproductive show of might at a time when it should be trying to allay fears that it is trying to build a nuclear weapon.
"It is clear that Iran is demonstrating its muscle in order to forestall any discussions of a possible operation using force against Iran," Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, was quoted as saying according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
Iran said the torpedo tests were conducted on Sunday and Monday. The torpedo — called a "Hoot," or "whale" — is able to move at up to 223 mph, too fast for any enemy ship to elude.
Iran has routinely held war games over the past two decades to improve its combat readiness and test locally made equipment such as missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers.
Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.
Here you go Heigou That Sounds like The Best News in Years to me!
You can see why it has such short range. It is also extremely LOUD. And impossible to steer. And basically unstable because after all it is suspended in a pocket of steam. That the Iranians managed to build a copy, if that is what they did, is pretty impressive. Now see if they can make it work.
hmmm. So there is some kind of rocket combustion at the front, you say, which heats some water into steam and then (this is the really interesting dynamic) the steam pocket must be sort of distributed equally around the body of the missle/or since the steam is always in front of the missle, it will always follow into the pocket? Re: the instability, yeah, the pressure variation of the steam vs. the outside water would cause problems with steering, etc.
Myself I am reminded of nothing so much as 1967 when Egypt too had secret wonder weapons. That did not end well.No, that did not end well, *cough*. I wonder what all of this Iranian sabre-rattling PR "look at our arsenal" rubbish actually means? Are they the peacock with pretty feathers but no bite or....? I guess, as with almost all weapons/arms races, the "idea" of a state possessing a certain capability is just as powerful as actually having that capability. Hopefully this is just some "defensive PR", not some 12th Imam Amahadinnerjacket offensive special recipe!
hmmm. So there is some kind of rocket combustion at the front, you say, which heats some water into steam and then (this is the really interesting dynamic) the steam pocket must be sort of distributed equally around the body of the missle/or since the steam is always in front of the missle, it will always follow into the pocket? Re: the instability, yeah, the pressure variation of the steam vs. the outside water would cause problems with steering, etc.
If the rocket just pushes forward, the steam will be distributed along the length of the body. It also tries to create cavitation which is harder to explain so I won't. But it is basically steam bubbles again. But no part of the rocket ought to touch water if possible. So it is "flying" in steam. How do you steer it apart from moving the rocket nozzle? How is it kept stable with no water to hold it up and provide resistance? What happens if you are going 250 km/hr and you try and turn and the rocket touches the water somewhere along its length? Water is like rock at that speed. As I said, amazing if the Iranians got it to work at all.
Myself I am reminded of nothing so much as 1967 when Egypt too had secret wonder weapons. That did not end well.
No, that did not end well, *cough*. I wonder what all of this Iranian sabre-rattling PR "look at our arsenal" rubbish actually means? Are they the peacock with pretty feathers but no bite or....? I guess, as with almost all weapons/arms races, the "idea" of a state possessing a certain capability is just as powerful as actually having that capability. Hopefully this is just some "defensive PR", not some 12th Imam Amahadinnerjacket offensive special recipe!
Well presumably they are following the frog defence - if you've got nothing puff yourself up big and look threatening. I don't like to engage in Middle Eastern stereotypes but I am also reminded by Comical Ali - Saddam's great spokesperson.
The more they blow their own trumpets, in my opinion, the less we have to worry about them. If they were serious they would keep silent. Look at their support for the insurgents in Iran.
Le coeur a ses raisons, que la raison ne connait pas. - Blaise Pascal
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