Iran Military Forum

I just found these never before seen pics (to me anyway) of the Sattar missiles family, including the first picture of the Sattar-2 I've ever seen! Enjoy

Something has always bothered me about Iranian PGMs...Where are the Laser-Guided bombs? Clearly Iran has the technology (for at least a decade now), their Sattar-3s use the same Laser Seeker as the Paveway bombs did but yet no bombkit has ever been seen..surely a bombkit is cheaper than a LG missile right? Thoughts?

It looks identical to the Sattar-3 so I would guess its the same missile, just a different name for confusion (as they do with many things lol). THough its hard to be sure. Notice that the Sattar-2 and Sattar-3 arent very different in appearance but yet are distinct so who knows..

continued...
The Qassed

Kite

Sattar 1 - pictures 1-6

Sattar 3/Asre 67 - Pictures 7-10

Zoobin, and misc

I just noticed, but there's actually two versions of the Kite, one with 140 launch tubes and another one with 184. The former has two visible cells, while the latter has 4 smaller ones. Though because they're mockups, who knows if they're actual cell's or not, or rather, just groupings.

The system reminds me of the Mjolner, except for payload.

The Kite appears to be ~4.1 m long and the launch tubes are ~4-7 cm in diameter.

really nice pics ayyash thanks, the yasser looks like a Hawk/sejil missile the back especially

That's cause it is, the motor is the exact same.

No, it's just the rocket engine is the same.

During the Iran-Iraq war, that's what they were doing with the Shahin artillery rocket, and one of the smaller 122mm rockets types.

Though like you said, they can't have been of much use beyond strategic bombing.

Lur has asked me about how Iran is still maintaining their inventory of AIM-7s, AIM-9s, AGM-65s etc. It is a very good question, one which has puzzled observers for many years and more specifically he asked what Tom Cooper thought of the idea.

Mr. Cooper has extensively studied the arms ordered, delivered, and cancelled by Iran before the Revolution. His conclusions on most of Iran's A2A missiles bought from the US would all be no less than 30 years old, which means they have to be either be buying them from abroad or being rebuilt/refurbished by Iranian engineers. Personally I find the later much more likely because getting AIM-7s and AIM-9s from other sources are still going to old by default since those models of the Sparrow and Sidewinder have been out of production for 20 years.

Also, there is the idea of the Fatter Missile (which looks externally identical to the AIM-9P). There are some who believe it was never produced, and those who think it has been produced in large enough numbers to phase out the older Sidewinders. There are obviously still some old Sidewinders around (we've seen plenty of pictures). Personally, I think its a mix of Iran refurbishing older A2A missiles and building some of their own. Its also quite possible that the AIM-23C Sejil is meant to replace the AIM-7s role for the F-14 and sinces F-4s have largely become 'bomb trucks' they dont need to be equipped with Sparrows anymore so the need to replace the AIM-7s isnt so great compared to the older AIM-9s.

When it comes to American PGMs delivered before the Revolution, most sources suggest Iran received 2500 Mavericks and its impossible to tell how many survived the war, but I know theres pictures of originally produced missiles so clearly they still have some in inventory. Also since we know for a fact Iran has extensive experience with the guidance systems of these missiles and they have the engine tech to refurbish them until they find a suitable replacement (which I think they have now).

Interestingly, I wouldnt be shocked if in the next several years we seen F-4s armed with Air-Launched versions of the Kosar & Nasr missiles.

So long story, Mr. Cooper believes that Iran likely refurbishes these older American missiles using the technology we know they have already and are likely replacing them gradually with Iranian-built systems as they become more available. Its not impossible that they maybe importing newer missiles from other sources but it doesnt make much logical sense to me since these missile models have been out of production for many years. A very good question Lur!