LONDON (Kayhan Intl) -- Iran has built up a substantial precision-guided missile arsenal to ensure that other countries would "think twice” about going to war, defense experts here have disclosed.
In the Persian Gulf, key headquarters, desalination plants, embassies and military bases have all become potential targets of the precision weapons, according to analysts at the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
The attacks earlier this year on an American airbase in Iraq have given Iran growing confidence that it is reaching militarily deterrence in the region, they said.
"This precision strike capability means that Iran can make a calibrated response to any U.S. action targeting an oil facility or military site in tit-for-tat strikes which limits the idea of ‘deterrence by punishment’,” said Dr Jack Watling, a Research Fellow at RUSI. "People will think twice about fighting them, even if Tehran is left weaker than their opponents.”
Hezbollah in Lebanon has also a large and varied arsenal of rockets and missiles, the experts said.
This has made Israeli military bases and airfields vulnerable to strikes despite allegedly having one of the best missile defense systems in the world with its Iron Dome system.
Hezbollah’s missiles, the experts said, are equipped with refined inertial missile kits which use GPS to guide the missile fins when it is in its terminal phase coming straight down, turning a crude rocket into a precision weapon.
These "maneuverable re-entry vehicles” are harder to intercept because mid-flight their target is unknown. Also, smaller numbers need to be launched allowing Hezbollah to conserve its arsenal of Raad missiles which have a range of 500km.
"Hezbollah can now go from targeting cities to targeting military bases in Israel and could overwhelm the Iron Dome defenses,” said Dr Watling.
The speed at which Iran is developing its missile technology is also a worry for its enemies. "The scale and pace at which Iran precision enables its ballistic missiles is even more of a concern than its advances with drones,” said Justin Bronk, a research fellow at RUSI.
"The number of precision-guided kits is a matter of critical interest for Israel. This is the biggest threat for countries looking at Iran from a military point of view. The warheads are very big and difficult to intercept and are a massive threat.”
The significance of Iran’s strike against the U.S. in Iraq in January was that it was able to accurately target specific buildings on the base.
"The most important takeaway from Iran’s strike is just how precise their short-range ballistic missiles were,” Vipin Narang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology told The Economist. "The accuracy revolution is real and no longer a monopoly of the United States. This has huge implications for modern conflict.”
In the Persian Gulf, key headquarters, desalination plants, embassies and military bases have all become potential targets of the precision weapons, according to analysts at the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
The attacks earlier this year on an American airbase in Iraq have given Iran growing confidence that it is reaching militarily deterrence in the region, they said.
"This precision strike capability means that Iran can make a calibrated response to any U.S. action targeting an oil facility or military site in tit-for-tat strikes which limits the idea of ‘deterrence by punishment’,” said Dr Jack Watling, a Research Fellow at RUSI. "People will think twice about fighting them, even if Tehran is left weaker than their opponents.”
Hezbollah in Lebanon has also a large and varied arsenal of rockets and missiles, the experts said.
This has made Israeli military bases and airfields vulnerable to strikes despite allegedly having one of the best missile defense systems in the world with its Iron Dome system.
Hezbollah’s missiles, the experts said, are equipped with refined inertial missile kits which use GPS to guide the missile fins when it is in its terminal phase coming straight down, turning a crude rocket into a precision weapon.
These "maneuverable re-entry vehicles” are harder to intercept because mid-flight their target is unknown. Also, smaller numbers need to be launched allowing Hezbollah to conserve its arsenal of Raad missiles which have a range of 500km.
"Hezbollah can now go from targeting cities to targeting military bases in Israel and could overwhelm the Iron Dome defenses,” said Dr Watling.
The speed at which Iran is developing its missile technology is also a worry for its enemies. "The scale and pace at which Iran precision enables its ballistic missiles is even more of a concern than its advances with drones,” said Justin Bronk, a research fellow at RUSI.
"The number of precision-guided kits is a matter of critical interest for Israel. This is the biggest threat for countries looking at Iran from a military point of view. The warheads are very big and difficult to intercept and are a massive threat.”
The significance of Iran’s strike against the U.S. in Iraq in January was that it was able to accurately target specific buildings on the base.
"The most important takeaway from Iran’s strike is just how precise their short-range ballistic missiles were,” Vipin Narang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology told The Economist. "The accuracy revolution is real and no longer a monopoly of the United States. This has huge implications for modern conflict.”
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