From Fattah to Kheibar, Iranian missiles capable of attacking any point in Israel in minutes

After the unproductive attack last April and the recent operations against Hezbollah, since Tehran has just launched a new offensive against Israel. According to the latest information collected by the newspaper HareetzIran launched more than 100 missiles against Israeli territory this Tuesday afternoon.

“Recently, missiles were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel,” the Israeli army said in a statement. “You are asked to remain vigilant and follow the instructions of the Home Front Command precisely.”

“Air defense systems are completely prepared for any Iranian attack“, said an Israeli army spokesperson a few hours before the attack. “But no threat has been identified so far.”

The previous time, the anti-aircraft shields developed by Israel were operating at full capacity and They managed to repel the vast majority of projectiles. As the Defense Forces explain, the Iranian attack caused no personal casualties and only some material damage of varying degrees, as the depopulated areas were not completely protected by all layers.

The potential attack on the Ayatollah regime comes in a context moment of maximum tension in the region. Especially when Israel launched a ground incursion into southern Lebanon in order to neutralize Hezbollah, the force proxy of Tehran in the region. In fact, Iranian military equipment has been found in the hands of Hezbollah guerrillas on several occasions.

Regarding weapons, Missiles have become one of the specialties of the Iranian arms industrywhich has a large number of different models and the ability to reach Israeli territory. Along with drones, they constitute the two fundamental pillars of its strategy for projecting military capabilities.

Two hypersonic missiles

Among the aforementioned missiles, the most advanced category is the one that It consists of the hypersonic Fattah. The first generation, called Fattah, was presented in June 2023 as the only one “capable of penetrating all defense shields”, according to Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the country’s aerospace force, in June, in a clear nod to the anti-aircraft shields. deployed by Israel.

According to official data, “the precision-guided hypersonic missile has a range of 1,400 kilometers” and is capable of “evading the most advanced anti-ballistic systems of the United States and the Zionist regime”, including the famous Iron Dome. As for speed, the maximum reached by the projectile was estimated at 17,000 kilometers per hour. Enough for reach Israeli territory in just a few minutes.

Exactly 5 months after the Fattah appeared before the public, Tehran presented the second version of the missile. Under the name Fattah 2the Iranian news agency Tasnim News He specified that this model falls into the hypersonic heavy-duty category.

Heavyweights…Hypersonic gliding vehicle o Hypersonic hovering vehicle: is one of the most used methods to create this type of weaponry. It involves launching a rocket with one or more of these vehicles inside and, once at the desired height, deploying them along a maneuverable atmospheric re-entry trajectory.

The difference between heavy vehicles and traditional ballistic missiles is that the former have a great capacity to change course and trajectory during their flight. Something that allows them to perform unpredictable movements for anti-aircraft shields overwhelmed by the constant changes in altitude and heading. In case they carry more than one heavy weight – something the newly presented missile lacks – they can attack multiple targets with the same launch.

Published data suggests that the Fattah 2 has a primary propulsion stage that it shares with the Kheibar Shekan missile, presented in early 2022. This primary booster would allow it to climb to an undisclosed altitude and, once there, ‘ignite the second. scene. The last step of this flight phase is deployment of the aforementioned hypersonic glider vehiclewho will be responsible for achieving the final objective.

Regarding the specifications of the second model, Iranian media reported that can reach up to 1,500 kilometers of autonomy; well below other heavy-duty proposals from countries like Russia or China, with a global range of tens of thousands of kilometers. “The Fattah 2 can choose the shape of its flight trajectory like cruise missiles,” says Tasnim. It can “deceive enemy missile defense systems at any time by performing maneuvers.”

They also explain that the maximum speed it can reach is about 10 times that of sound, approximately 12,000 kilometers per hour. As they explain, combining this high speed with the ability to maneuver presents a real challenge for air defense shields, a technology in which Israel has proven to be at the pinnacle of global technological development with systems such as the Iron Dome. or the Iron Beam which uses the laser.

Iran’s new hypersonic missile uses only flight control surfaces for guidance, something Tehran’s industry has already applied to other weapons. As highlighted Janethe re-entry vehicle could be “inspired by the Boeing X-51 Waverider”, an American-made experimental hypersonic aircraft.

Although Iran is already one of the most important defense industrial hubs, a significant portion of Western military analysts indicate that the country “sometimes exaggerates its missile capabilities”, as stated Reuters. Concerns about Tehran’s ballistic missiles were decisive in the United States’ decision to abandon the nuclear pact in 2018 and were joined by fears about the development of radioactive weapons.

ballistic missiles

During the April attack, the last count released by Israel indicated that a total of 110 medium-range ballistic missile units. Leading this category, as the most capable platform, is the Kheibar missile.

The Kheibar has a Operating range of 2,000 kilometers — enough to reach Israeli soil — and a 1,500-kilogram nuclear warhead. It was commissioned in June 2023 and belongs to the fourth generation of the Khorramshahr missile family manufactured by the Persian country’s Ministry of Defense.

Another missile belonging to the medium-range ballistic missile category is the Kheibar Shekan. Its production began in 2022 and, according to some analysts, it could have participated in the massive attack last April.

This model uses solid fuel to power its propellant and has a range of 1,400 kilometers, so it would be able to reach Israeli soil. It measures 11.4 meters long by 76 centimeters in diameter and weighs 6.3 tonnes at takeoff. Its nuclear warhead with a powerful explosive compound reaches 550 kilograms and, according to Iranian media, was designed to bypass Israeli anti-aircraft shields.

Among the oldest in the category is the Shahab-3. This model was fielded in 2003 as one of Iranian engineering’s first approaches to this type of advanced weaponry. It has a liquid fuel rocket and its destructive power is several orders higher than those mentioned above.

The main feature of the Shahab-3 is that it can integrate a warhead weighing up to 1,200 kilograms, with the possibility of exchanging it for 5 smaller warheads to attack different locations simultaneously. This missile has a range of 2,000 kilometers in its extended range version and reaches an altitude of up to 400 kilometers.