Tehran Announces Wargames/Missile Tests

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran plans to conduct missile war games during a three-day period beginning Sunday, state-run television reported. The war games will be carried out near Garmsar city, about 60 miles southeast of Tehran, according to the broadcast. "Zalzal and Fajr-5 missiles will be test fired in the war game," the broadcast quoted an unnamed military commander, as saying. Both are considered short-range missiles. The exercise will be the first by Iran since the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on December 23, which banned selling materials and technology that could be used in Iran's nuclear and missile programs and the freezing of assets of 10 Iranian companies and individuals.

Earlier in November Iran test-fired dozens of missiles _ including the Shahab-3 that can reach Israel. Iran held three large-scale military exercises last year. In its April exercises, Iran tested what it called an "ultra-horizon" missile, which is fired from helicopters and jets, and the Fajr-3 missile, which can reportedly evade radar and use multiple warheads to hit several targets simultaneously. (multiple sources)

Obviously the Iranian response to the plus up of CSGs in the Gulf. Well, one can also presume along with the above will come the usual stupendous, over-the-top claims of radar evading, multiple maneuvering, highly accurate, etc., etc., etc. missile capabilities from the Iranians. Mixed in with the SRBM/battle field rockets (ZalZal and Fajr-5) I would not be surprised to see a Shahab or 2 launched as well. To help sort the wheat from the chaff, missilewise, the following is presented as a quick reference:

• Fajr-5 (fajr-Persian for "dawn"): The Fajr-5 is a 6.6m long solid fuel rocket with a diameter of .33m and a weight of 915kg. It carries a 90kg warhead to a distance of 75km.
  


• Zelzal or Zalzal (Persian for "earthquake"): two versions of the Zelzal are known to be available—the Zelzal-1 and Zelzal-2. The Zelzal-1 is a 8.3m long solid-fueled rocket with a diameter of .6m and a weight of 2,950kg. It carries a 600kg warhead to a distance of 125km. The Zelzal-2 is also 8.3m long solid-fueled rocket with a diameter of .6m. It, however, weighs of 3,450kg and can carry a 600kg warhead to a distance of 210km. The Zelzal family is produced by Shahid Bagheri Industries under the auspices of the Aerospace Industries Organization.
  


• Shahab-3 (shahab - Persian for "meteor" or "shooting star"): a single-stage, liquid-fueled, road-mobile, medium-range ballistic missile with a range of approximately 800 miles (1,280 km). A MRBM variant, sometimes called Shahab-4, has a range of more than 1,200 miles (1,930 km). Shahab-3 is capable of carrying a 1,000-760 kilogram warhead. Fewer than 20 launchers were deployed as of March 2006, according to Air Force Intelligence. The variant was not deployed at the time.

More to follow, we're sure...