C430L: it is not a new pandemic virus but the acronym of a potentially lethal secret program, because it could allow the Islamic Republic of Iran to manufacture the deadly hypersonic missiles made in Russia at home. Experts have been fearing this turning point on the Middle Eastern scene since 2022: in the summer of that year, Moscow was forced to deal with the failure of the lightning invasion of Ukraine, exhausted by Kiev’s resistance and with dry arsenals, so it turned to Tehran to obtain the Shaeed kamikaze drones. Weapons destined to change the face not only of the war in Ukraine but of modern conflicts. A few months after the first meetings – satellite images obtained by CNN revealed the presence of Kremlin officials at an air base in central Iran where numerous Iranian drones were parked -, the Russians were able to use Geran drones in the field, the Shaeed version home-produced by Moscow. Since then, many have wondered what Tehran had obtained in the exchange of military know-how: today an investigation by the Financial Times reveals that the Islamic Republic has closed a contract for the production of hypersonic missiles. A weapon that today, during the conflict with the USA and Israel, could turn the tables: FT notes that “Iran has used drones and missiles to inflict significant damage on American military bases and other targets throughout the Middle East, but so far it has not managed to inflict comparable damage on US naval resources”.
Hypersonic missiles are anti-ship missiles
And the hypersonic missiles Iran is working on are precisely the anti-ship ones. An ambition that Tehran has been harboring for years, and which in 2023 took on unexpected concreteness thanks to the contract inspired by the Russian armaments giant Rosoboronexport and signed with great fanfare in November. Moscow subsequently sent dozens of experts and technicians and analyzed the first data from the tests conducted by the Iranians on the first carriers. To date, the progress of the project is uncertain, while it is certain that this type of missile, made in Tehran or supplied by the Russians, did not debut in the conflict in the Gulf. Should they ever appear on the scene they would certainly represent a deadly threat to the US fleet and its allies. The missiles that Tehran is reportedly working on zoom at speeds exceeding Mach 2 and 3, at very low altitude, which Ft compares to that of the first floor of the famous red buses in London. The last note on the secret program is from last June, a letter from Rosoboronexport alludes to the details to be defined before a disturbing “next phase”.