Iranian missiles in live fire exercise

[HongKanSeng]

6月28日，伊朗在“伟大先知6”大规模军演中试射“震动”型国产导弹。据伊朗新闻电视台报道，当地时间２８日上午，伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队在代号为“伟大先知６”的大规模军事演习中试射了１４枚国产新型中、远程导弹。新华社/法新

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-06/28/c_13954863.htm

Iran testfires 14 missiles "successfully" in drills
English.news.cn 2011-06-28 23:23:57 FeedbackPrintRSS

A ballistic missile is launched during the second day of military exercises codenamed Great Prophet-6, for Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards at an undisclosed location. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards fired 14 missiles in the exercise. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

TEHRAN, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran announced on Tuesday that it " successfully" testfired 14 short-range, medium-range and long- range missiles on the second day of the missile drills.

According to the local English language satellite Press TV report, the missiles fired included Zelzal, Shahab-1, Shahab-2 and Shahab-3 on the second day of the Piambar A'zam-6 (Great Prophet-6) military drills.

The missiles which were launched near the central city of Qom comprised five Shahab missiles, including four medium-range and one long-range, as well as nine Zelzal missiles.

The Islamic Republic began the drills on Monday, and on the first day of the exercises, Iran unveiled underground missile silos and fired Fateh-110 missile.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that the more powerful an independent country is to defend itself, the more helpful it would be for the security, peace and stability of the region.

Talking to the reporters in his weekly press briefing, Mehmanparast said that if the regional countries were powerful enough to defend themselves, the Zionist regime of Israel would never dare to attack and occupy their territory.

Now that the West is concerned about Iran's power to defend itself, it means that they cannot pursue their interests easily in the region, said the spokesman.

Aerospace commander of Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said Tuesday that Iran's missiles have the range of 2,000 km and can reach U.S. bases in the region and also Israel.

Iran does not need to increase the range of its missiles since Israel is just 1,200 km away from Iran and the U.S. bases are even nearer, some 120 to 700 km away from Iran, said the commander.

With the existing missiles, Iran can hit the targets from the Iranian central cities of Semnan and Damghan, Hajizadeh said.

He dismissed the threats by the Europeans and said that Iran has designed and developed its missiles for U.S. and Israel targets.

The commander also rejected the allegations that Iran has imported the missiles and the technology of the missiles from the DPRK.

On Monday, Colonel Asghar Qlitchkhani, the spokesmen for the wargame, said that the technology and the construction of the silos are totally local and have been developed and built by the Iranian experts.

The permanent readiness of the missiles in the vertical position is one of the important features of these silos, the commander said, adding that all the launching stages of the missile are electronic and are remote-controlled.

The silos function as one of the swift-reaction units of the missile commandment so that, permanently in the vertical position, they are ready to hit the pre-determined targets, he told reporters.

The aerospace commander of the IRGC said Sunday that the Piambar A'zam-6 missile drills would last for 10 days.

The maneuver had totally defensive objectives and would be held with the message of "peace and friendship," Hajizadeh said.

Another objective of the missile drill was to assess and upgrade the readiness of the military units, to practice new tactics and to place the younger graduated generations by the side of the experienced ones, he said.

In the drill, some of Iran's missile capabilities and products would be on show and the long-range, medium-range and short-range missiles for ground and marine targets would be harnessed, said the commander without specifying the region or the scope of the maneuver.

The U.S. established numerous bases in the region, in the east, in the west and in the southern neighborhood of the country and Iran was conducting the maneuver to enhance its defensive readiness, said Hajizadeh.

 

[HongKanSeng]

http://www.smh.com.au/world/iran-missiles-hidden-deep-underground-20110628-1gp04.html

Iran missiles hidden deep underground
William Broad
June 29, 2011


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Underground ... Iran has unveiled new subterranean storage facilities for their missiles.

Underground ... Iran has unveiled new subterranean storage facilities for their missiles. Photo: AFP

IRAN has unveiled silos that would make its missiles less vulnerable to attack, the country's latest show of force in the long stand-off with the West over its nuclear program.

State television broadcast images of silos deep underground, claiming they held medium- and long-range missiles. Silos are considered more difficult to destroy than surface installations and Iran hailed them as a defensive asset meant to thwart an attacker.

Colonel Asghar Qelichkhani said the silos ''function as a swift-reaction unit''. State TV quoted him as saying the missiles were permanently in the vertical position and ''ready to hit the predetermined targets''.
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They were presented as Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards began 10 days of military exercises.

Yesterday they test-fired 14 missiles, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said. The missiles included nine of the Zelzal type, two Shahab-1s, two Shahab-2s and one Shahab-3 in tests marking the second phase of what Tehran is calling the ''Great Prophet Six'' war game.

Western powers have long cited evidence that Iran was investigating the design of nuclear warheads for its missiles. But Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Iran's first nuclear power plant is set to start up in August, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said.

''The project has been completed and everything has been ironed out,'' the state RIA Novosti news agency quoted him saying.

Iran says it needs the plant to meet growing demand for electricity. But the plant's construction has been strongly opposed by Israel amid fears that it forms a part of Iran's suspected nuclear weapons development program.

The plant's connection to the electricity grid had been scheduled for late last year but has since been postponed due to technical faults, including that caused by suspected espionage by Israel and the US using the Stuxnet virus.

Last year the International Institute for Strategic Studies, an arms analysis group in London, reported ''emerging evidence'' of Iranian silos that could fire missiles at Iraq, Israel, Turkey and countries throughout the Persian Gulf.

It said the most logical reason for building silos was ''to prepare to field larger missiles''.

The state TV report showed footage of an underground launching pad for what it called the Shahab-3 missile, which has a range of about 2000 kilometres. The report also showed a large metal roof opening atop the silo to allow the firing of the missile.

Israel has accused Tehran of receiving assistance from North Korea in building underground missile sites. But Colonel Qelichkhani said the silos were based on Iranian technology.

The New York Times/Agence France-Presse

 

[HongKanSeng]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/af...docId=CNG.6c25a9c232d3cf119529fbaf534299e3.01

Iran fires medium-range missile in war game

By Farhad Pouladi (AFP) – 9 hours ago

TEHRAN — Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards fired 14 missiles in an exercise Tuesday, one of them a medium-range weapon capable of striking Israel or US targets in the Gulf, state media said.

The Guards' aerospace commander, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, insisted Iran's missile programme posed no threat to European nations but was merely intended to provide defence against Israel and US forces in the Gulf.

"Today, on the second day of the exercise, we fired Zelzals (Quake), Shahabs (Meteors) 1 and 2, and the Ghadr (Power)," a medium-range missile which is a modified version of the Shahab-3, Hajizadeh told state television.

He said the missiles were not a threat to European nations.

"Iran's missiles have a maximum range of 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) and are designed to reach US targets in the region and the Zionist regime," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

"The Zionist regime is 1,200 kilometres away from Iran and we are able to target this regime with our 2,000 kilometre range missiles from Semnan and Damghan (in central Iran)," he said.

"We have the technology to build missiles with a longer range but we do not need them and we are not seeking to build such missiles."

Iran has said that its latest exercise is not aimed at any country but carries "a message of peace and friendship."

IRNA said the Guards fired nine Zelzals, two Shahab-1s, two Shahab-2s and a single medium-range Ghadr on the second day of their Great Prophet-6 exercise.

Iran unveiled the Ghadr, which has a range of 1,800 kilometres, following a successful test in September 2009.

The Zelzal is an unguided surface-to-surface missile with a maximum range of 400 kilometres.

The Shahab-1 and -2 have a range of 300 to 500 kilometres and are based on the Soviet-designed Scud.

On the first day of the exercise on Monday, the Guards unveiled an "underground missile silo" which they said was designed for launching their medium-range missiles, state television reported.

The broadcaster showed footage of a facility at an unknown location, containing a missile it identified as a Shahab-3.

"The technology to build these silos is completely indigenous," the state television website quoted the exercise's spokesman, Colonel Asghar Ghelich-Khani, as saying.

State television also showed a missile launch, without specifying its type or when the firing took place.

Iran's missile programme, which is under the control of the powerful Guards, along with its space projects, has been a mounting source of concern in the West.

Western governments fear Tehran is developing a ballistic capability to enable it to launch atomic warheads which they suspect Iran is seeking to develop under cover of its civil nuclear programme.

Tehran denies any such ambition.

 

[ridzy]

Iran said it fired two medium range missile into the Indian Ocean six months ago under the eyes of "American spy planes," local media reported on Saturday, quoting a top military commander.