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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Some Say Iran's Weapons Come From Russia |
| 2006-04-04 |
| CAIRO, Egypt - Iran has unveiled with great fanfare a series of what it portrays as sophisticated, homegrown weapons — flying boats and missiles invisible to radar, torpedoes too fast to elude. But experts said Tuesday it appears much of the technology came from Russia and questioned Iran's claims about the weapons' capabilities. Still, the armaments, tested during war games by some 17,000 Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf, send what may be Iran's real message: its increased ability to hit oil tankers if tension with America turns to outright confrontation. To underline that message, the maneuvers — code-named "The Great Prophet" — have been held since Friday around the Strait of Hormuz, the 34-mile-wide entrance to the Gulf through which about two-fifths of the world's oil supplies pass. Throughout the war games, Iran has touted what it calls technological leaps in its weapons production. In recent years, Iran revved up its arms programs after long relying on purchases abroad to keep up its aging arsenal, hampered by U.S. sanctions and Washington's pressure on other countries against selling weapons to Tehran. The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, proclaimed Tuesday that Iran was now able to defend itself against "any extra-regional invasion." It was a clear reference to Iranian worries of potential U.S. military action to stop its nuclear program, which Washington claims is intended to produce nuclear weapons. Iran says it aims only to generate electricity, but has so far defied U.N. Security Council demands that it give up key parts of its program. The new weapons, many of them shown on Iranian state TV during their tests, have come with impressive claims: • A missile, the Fajr-3, that is invisible to radar and able to strike several targets with multiple warheads. There are questions over Iran's claims. In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said "the Iranians have been known to boast and exaggerate" their weapons capabilities. And some experts cast doubt on just how radar-evading Iran's ships and missiles are. Iran's radars are not as advanced as those of Israel, for example — meaning that perhaps the weapons can avoid the radar that Iran has access to, but not more advanced types, said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born, Israel-based analyst. "The question here is, what radar did they test their own weapons against? If it's the radar they've been using for all these years, then that's not saying 100 percent that these things are undetectable," he said. Others questioned if Iran developed the weapons on its own. The Hoot torpedo — the name means "whale" — closely resembles the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, the world's fastest known underwater missile, developed in 1995, said Ruslan Pukhov of Moscow's Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. The Shkval attains high speeds by coating itself in a cocoon of air bubbles, reducing friction, and Pukhov said its technology was too sophisticated for the Iranians to produce themselves. "Hypothetically, they could get access to the Shkval technology, but if so, I don't think they got it through Russian channels," he said. Pukhov noted the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan once had a Soviet torpedo testing center on the remote mountain lake of Issyk-Kul. And he said that in the turmoil that followed the Soviet breakup, Kyrgyz authorities sold Shkvals to the Chinese, a major importer of Iranian oil. Kanybek Tabaldiyev, a senior official with a Kyrgyz company that makes torpedo and other military hardware at Issyk-Kul, denied his company transferred sophisticated technology to Iran. He said it was possible weaponry had been acquired through other means. Chinese officials had no immediate comment on whether their country provided Iran with Shkvals. China has been pursuing closer relations with Tehran in hopes of help in meeting its energy needs, and the United States has sanctioned Chinese companies in the past, accusing them of violating international controls on transfers of weapons technology to Iran. Beijing has protested the U.S. sanctions and in 2003, it issued its first regulations controlling exports of missile, nuclear and biological weapons technology. Whatever the Iranian armaments' capabilities — or origins — they likely won't greatly affect the military balance of power in the Gulf, where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based, operating out of the island nation of Bahrain. For example, the Hoot torpedo — if indeed based on the Shkval — has too short a range, about 7,500 yards, to be militarily significant, said Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian analyst. But Iran may be aiming to show the world, and its people, that it has options if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates. That could boost its hand in negotiations with the United States and Europe. "They know they are inferior to the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, so this is their way of telling Americans .... we are not the only ones who would lose out if talks regarding the nuclear program fail," Javedanfar said. The torpedo tests in particular are significant, he said. "They know that if you sink one tanker in the Strait of Hormuz you can stop all shipping there, because the waters are quite shallow," he said. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #11 RUSSIA > it was with Iraq during OPERS DESERT SHIELD/STORM and IRAQI FREEDOM, so why should Iran be any different, espec since the Russkis are already strongly believed by many to had de facto helped Saddam hide + transfer his WMD caches to various ME countries, includ but not limited to Iran per se. The Iranians know the Perfectionism-happy, agenda-less, Fascists = [imperfect] mere HalfCommies/Socialists Lefties will blame-and-constrain Dubya-America for everything anyways, and that the Clinton-led/centric USDemoLeft wants the Fed and only the Fed to expand and take over everything and anything domestically, while simul ensuring Dubya and America fail overseas. The Left > America voluntarily giving up its sovereignty and endowments = same as America being militarily forced to. We know why the RINO-CINO Failed/Angry Left wants America under anti-sovereign Socialism and OWG circa 2015-2020, becuz Russia itself now finally admits that it may likely be too costly or cost(s)-prohibitive for them to maintain any sort of effective mil-nuclearized counter arsenal against America's. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-04-04 23:32 |
| #10 Russians interfering, arming our enemies? That gets 2 words from this old spook. Well, Duh! |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-04-04 23:24 |
| #9 Stupid is as stupid does. It's their history. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-04-04 21:18 |
| #8 And the Bear is back. Let's see all the Putin-lovers defend his record since becoming Tsar, that's always worth some major laughs. Makes me dizzy. In the last 20 years, the outcome there since the fall of the Soviets is definitely one of the greatest disappointments from my point of view. So much potential totally wasted. The Russians dropped a huge opportunity, just as the Iraqis are doing today. I'm learning. Lesson of the last few decades is: You just can't fix stupid. It isn't some surface condition, it's through and through. Brain-dead to the bone. |
| Posted by: Creans Chomogum3852 2006-04-04 21:10 |
| #7 The Russian bears close watching, always has, always will. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-04-04 20:36 |
| #6 Ah, is the Pope Catholic? Does the ocean have water? Comeon, anything not from Ruskie is from ChiCom. Bums. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-04-04 20:35 |
| #5 Johnny Quest ruled! My favorite, that one with the spider-robot with a giant eyeball. |
| Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden 2006-04-04 19:28 |
| #4 |
| Posted by: doc 2006-04-04 17:09 |
| #3 The Russian equipment didn't help Saddam. Its still Iranians that are gonna operate it. Their last big war was against Saddam. Massive suicide waves left that war at a stalemate. The best that they could do is make a big mess with shipping if they get the first shot off. I don't think that's gonna happen. JMO |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2006-04-04 16:38 |
| #2 Wow. Lot's of invisible stuff. Somebody better get Johnny Quest on the phone... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-04-04 16:27 |
| #1 "...Iran may be aiming to show the world, and its people, that it has options ..." Or it may be that they bought a good sales pitch from the Russians for some hardware that looks more important than it is. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-04-04 16:20 |