Iran’s Khorramshahr Missile Is
a Copy... of a Copy (Thanks,
North Korea)
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/iran%E2%80%99s-khorramshahr-missile-copy-copy-thanks-north-korea-154071
Copy-ception?
by Caleb Larson
The Khorramshahr missile
is classic Iran—vintage Soviet technology adapted by another country, and then
again upgraded and tweaked by Iran.
This makes the Khorramshahr a copy… of a copy.
North Korea has been a steadfast exporter of weapons
to Iran and that is where Tehran first got its hands on the adapted Soviet
missile.
Far Reach—and Far-reaching
Consequences
Iran’s
missile arsenal is massive and represents perhaps the largest and most capable
missile collection in the Middle East today.
Though Iran is not a nuclear power, some of the
country’s more capable missiles could hit not only Israel, but parts of Eastern
and southern Europe (including some NATO countries), the western edge of China, most of India, and
virtually the entire Middle East as well.
Yet Iran claims its
Khorramshahr missile can’t shoot as far as some experts think.
Speculation as to why its
derivative’s range is so much less have centered on the Khorramshahr’s road-mobile
maneuverability on the ground, thanks to its smaller size.
Some arms experts have
simply said that Iran may be inaccurately reporting the
Khorramshahr’s range so as to not worry European countries that would otherwise
lie in the Khorramshahr’s crosshairs.
Rumors
Iran’s Khorramshahr is
relatively new and was first seen during an Iranian military parade in 2017.
The large missile rides
on a road-mobile ground launcher, and somewhat surprisingly for such a setup,
is liquid-fueled rather than solid-fueled.
Like other Iranian weapon
projects, the Khorramshahr has its roots not in Iran but abroad—and comes from
North Korea.
There have been reports that
the Khorramshahr is a derivative of North Korea’s Musudan ballistic
missile.
The North Korean Musudan is
likely more powerful, with roughly double the reported range of the
Khorramshahr, and is likely a variant of a similar submarine-launched missile
of Soviet origin.
Khorramshahr
The
Khorramshahr’s range is 2,000 kilometers, or just about 1,200 miles at a minimum
and possibly as great as 2,500 miles, or about 4,000 kilometers.
Though Iran claims the Khorramshahr is capable of
evading enemy radar, though this claim is dubious.
It is more probable that the Khorramshahr is not
terribly accurate.
One report said
that the Khorramshahr’s accuracy is around 1,500 meters. Though the warhead is
quite heavy at 1,800 kilos or nearly 4,000 pounds, inaccuracy on this scale
would certainly eat into the Khorramshahr’s explosive potential, both literally
and figuratively.
This may not matter to Iranian
planning however, as the Khorramshahr could be capable of carrying a nuclear
warhead, in which case accuracy becomes somewhat of a moot point.
Configuring the
Khorramshahr to carry a nuclear payload is quite easy.
Postscript
Though the Khorramshahr may not
ever be nuclear armed, it serves Iran’s foreign policy agenda well—keeping
adversaries in the Middle East uncomfortably aware of Iran’s missile potential,
while downplaying their effective reach and power.
This strategy essentially
under-promises but over-delivers when it comes to missile capabilities in
particular.
NATO and Israel beware.
Caleb Larson holds a Master of
Public Policy degree from the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy. He lives in
Berlin and writes on U.S. and Russian foreign and defense policy, German
politics, and culture.
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