At a time when the US threatened new sanctions against Iran, followed by the banned abandonment of the nuclear program, Iran launched a massive naval training campaign in the Strait of Hormuz last week. The motivation is to make the world understand that Iran is also ready to block the transits of this strait. Especially the oil transits of the entire geographical area. During the naval exercise the guardians of the Iranian revolution tested a new short-range ballistic missile, able to tell them that they are immune to any missile defense system. The new missile is described, with a novitiate of technical details, by the military analyst Franco Iacch on Il Giornale.
Iran has introduced the new Al-Mobeen short-range ballistic missile of the Fateh family to the world. Iranian general Amir Hatami described the new weapon as “an expression of the country's military industry, an agile, invisible, high-precision missile immune to any type of defense shield. The basic shape of the body and the arrangement of the control surfaces are visually identical to the Fateh-110. There is no indication on the new features of the Al-Mobeen model, probably inertia-guided with satellite support in addition to an infrared sensor for images. It is possible that the Iranians reduced the missile's infrared capability upon launch or improved its guidance system to allow the weapon to reach an unusual trajectory relative to the target.
Just a third generation Fateh-110 missile in anti-ship configuration would have been tested last week, during exercises in the Strait of Hormuz. The missile was reportedly launched from the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps base in Bandar-e-Jask in southeastern Iran. Fateh-110 allegedly crossed part of the Strait of Hormuz before hitting its target in the desert 100 miles away. Iran claims that the country's missile program is designed for defense with uniquely conventional payload capability.
The Fateh-110 is a short-range solid-propellant single-stage ballistic missile. In service since 2004, it is probably an evolution of the Zelzal-2 system. It should have a range of 300km for a payload of 500kg. The mobile launcher missile is 8,86 meters long, 0,61 meters in diameter and weighs 3.450 kg. The Fateh-110 uses an inertial guidance system with GPS correction for a circular error probability of less than one hundred meters. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Iran has developed several versions of the Fateh designated as A-110A / Fateh 2 and A-110B / Fateh 3. The fourth generation 110-D1 configuration was unveiled in August 2012 : implements a new guidance system with the same range as the previous version, about 300 km. On September 25, 2016, Iran unveiled the new Zolfaghar ballistic missile, a variant of the Fateh-110 family, with a range of 700 km. Two anti-radar variants of the Fateh missile called Hormuz-1 and Hormuz-2. The anti-ship variant of the Fateh is called Khalij Fars. The latter implements an electro-optical finder to hit moving targets. Iran's anti-ship capability was confirmed by the US Department of Defense in 2014.