Specifications and Capabilities of Iran’s Hypersonic Missile

According to Rokna, citing Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the announcement was made during a ceremony commemorating the eleventh anniversary of the martyrdom of General Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, head of the IRGC’s Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization, known as the “father of Iran’s missile industry.” In his remarks, General Hajizadeh noted, “This new missile of the Islamic Republic of Iran bypasses all defensive systems inside the atmosphere or even the ultra-expensive systems outside the atmosphere that intercept missiles, and I do not believe a technology will be developed to counter it for decades to come.”

Hypersonic missiles are a generation of weapons that travel at speeds greater than Mach 5—five times the speed of sound—and due to this tremendous speed, their interception by conventional defense systems is nearly impossible. They can only be potentially neutralized using laser weapons. Unlike ballistic missiles, which follow predictable trajectories, hypersonic weapons possess radar-evading capabilities and can be employed to rapidly destroy high-value enemy targets.

Previously, in June 2020, Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, then-Commander of the Iranian Navy, had announced the development of supersonic missiles using new turbofan engines aimed at achieving multiple times the speed of sound in the near future. Supersonic missiles are those that travel at or slightly above the speed of sound. Although Iran has not yet unveiled or publicly tested a supersonic missile, some insight into the enhanced defensive capabilities attained by the armed forces through this development can be provided.

By definition, any vehicle classified as hypersonic travels faster than the speed of sound. Sound waves at sea level move at 1,225 km/h, and at an altitude of 10,668 meters (the cruising altitude of commercial aircraft), they travel at 1,067 km/h. Commercial airplanes travel at around 966 km/h, whereas hypersonic systems reach speeds of 5,633 km/h—equivalent to 1.6 kilometers per second.

Hypersonic missiles are projectiles that travel between five and twenty-five times the speed of sound. At these speeds, the projectile covers between 2 to 8 kilometers per second. As the missile travels rapidly through the atmosphere, it generates a plasma cloud in front of its warhead that blocks radio waves, shielding it from detection. Consequently, targeting these missiles with ground-to-air defense systems is extremely difficult. These missiles are capable of complex maneuvers and have sufficient range to strike intercontinental targets, making them powerful and strategic deterrent weapons.

Apart from Russia, China, and the United States—countries that are in advanced stages of hypersonic missile development—North Korea, Australia, and India have also announced efforts to build or acquire such weapons. Now, Iran too, by developing a hypersonic ballistic missile, joins the limited number of countries worldwide possessing this advanced military technology.

Military experts attribute the global race in recent years to acquire hypersonic weapons to the difficulty of defending against their destructive capabilities, stemming from their high speed, maneuverability, and unpredictable flight paths. While the United States has been seeking to develop a defensive approach against hypersonic missiles, involving a network of space-based sensors and closer cooperation with key allies, it is believed that this strategy will likely be very costly and take years to implement.

The laser interceptors capable of destroying unmanned aerial vehicles

Some military analysts also believe that in the future, laser interceptors—currently capable of destroying unmanned aerial vehicles—may be used to halt hypersonic cruise and ballistic missiles. However, this would require significant improvements and changes to today’s laser interceptor technologies and may only become feasible through long-term planning.

The announcement of the hypersonic missile on November 8, alongside the unveiling of the “Sayyad-4B” defense missile with a range exceeding 300 kilometers (on November 5), and the successful suborbital launch of the “Qaem-100” satellite carrier—viewed as a precursor to achieving long-range missile launch capability (on November 3)—altogether signify that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have attained cutting-edge missile power technologies. These developments not only enhance Iran’s defensive deterrent capabilities but also reflect the diminishing ability of military powers’ defense systems to counter such advancements.