24 Aug 14. Iran has unveiled indigenous cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles as the country continues to break new ground in its defense industry. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani unveiled two marine cruise missiles, Ghadir and Nasr-e Basir, as well as two unmanned aerial vehicles, Karrar-4 and Mohajer-4, during a ceremony in Tehran on Sunday.
The ceremony was also attended by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan. Ghadir is a new generation of Iranian cruise missiles with a range of 300 kilometers featuring great precision and high destructive power. The marine cruise missile, which can be launched from both the coast and vessels, can also be mounted on the previous generations of missile systems, providing the Iranian armed forces with higher operational capabilities. The other marine cruise missile, Nasr-e Basir, has high-operational capabilities with its silent and smart features. Karrar-4 is the new generation of Iranian drones designed and manufactured by the Aviation Industries Organization. The Iranian drone can trace intruding aircraft and is equipped with various air defense capabilities for operation at high altitudes. The other showcased UAV, Mohajer, is a photogrammetric drone capable of carrying out aerial mapping for military and civilian purposes. Iran has so far designed and manufactured a variety of indigenous missiles, including Sayyad-2, Khalij-e-Fars (Persian Gulf), Mehrab (Altar), Ra’d (Thunder), Qader (Mighty), Nour (Light) and Zafar (Triumph). Iran unveiled its first domestically manufactured long-range combat drone, the Karrar (Striker), on August 23, 2010. Since then the country has manufactured a variety of other high-tech surveillance and combat unmanned aerial vehicles. (Source: Open Source Information Report/Press TV)
25 Aug 14. Iron Dome hardware not included in UK ban on military exports to Israel. The UK government’s recently-announced ban on licensed military exports to Israel specifically excludes components for Israel’s Iron Dome anti-rocket system, the UK Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) has said. Conducted as a result of Israel’s current operations against Hamas forces in Gaza, a review of UK military exports to Israel has established that the “vast majority of exports currently licensed” are not for items that could be used by Israeli forces during the Gaza operations. However, it noted that 12 licences had been identified for components which could be part of equipment used by the Israel Defense Forces in the current conflict. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
27 Aug 14. DRDO outlines new missile development programmes. The Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is planning to develop new surface-to-air missiles and man portable anti-tank guided missile in the next few years. DRDO chief and Indian defence minister scientific adviser Avinash Chander was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying: “We are going to have surface-to-air missile[s], which will be on the move, tracking. We are also working [on] missiles … [that] stop and launch within a few seconds. India has reduced the timeframe for a missile development to four to five years from the previous eight to ten years, according to Chander. He added: “The aim is [in the] next five years you will see at least five different types of missiles covering different spectrums altogether.” The missiles are expected to be designed for different roles, including surface-to-surface, anti-tank, cruise, longer range and strategic. Specifically, the short-range surface-to-air missile is likely to have two vehicle configurations, and will be supplied to the Indian Army. Discussing other DRDO projects, Chander said: “We are working on other variations also, so that we have [a] total envelope of surface-to-air capabilities. “In future, we will aim to work on [a] longer range missile of 200-plus kms. We are working on cruise missiles, which will cover ship launch, air launch, submari