Iran 'builds own missile defense system'

[MyLittlePony 340]

Iran says it is developing its own missile defense system after Russia last year blocked delivery of the formidable S-300PMU system, which had been purchased in 2007.

Israeli defense expert Uzi Rubin, architect of the Jewish state's evolving multilayer missile defense program, says Tehran may be getting help from North Korean weapons engineers.

Iranian news agencies quoted defense officials as saying the Iranian Bavar 373 system is a substitute for the five S-300 batteries Moscow refused to deliver. The Iranians claim their system is more advanced than the Russian S-300, which was developed by NPO Almaz of Moscow.

"The designing phase of the Bavar 373 missile system Â… is to be completed soon," said Brig. Gen. Farzad Esmaili of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which oversees missile development projects in Iran.

"We don't think about the S-300," he added. "This domestically built system has more advanced capabilities than the S-300."

"Intuitively, it's difficult to imagine that the Iranian system is as good as the S-300," Rubin told The Jerusalem Post. "Making the missile is the simple part. The problem is creating complex radars and other components.

"The effectiveness of the system depends on the radars. The Iranians have some skills in this but years of experience are needed. It's difficult to believe that this can be done in one generation."

However, Rubin observed, "there are indications they're not working alone."

He said North Korean engineers may be helping the Iranians, as they have frequently over the years. The Iranians, he noted, "may be on the way to reaching these capabilities."

Technology for North Korea's Taepodong series of ballistic missiles is widely considered to have been used in Iranian projects.

On May 13, a U.N. panel of experts submitted an 81-page report to the Security Council saying that Pyongyang, ever in need of funds, persistently exported, or attempted to export, ballistic missiles, missile components and the relevant technologies to Iran in recent years despite U.N. bans.

Russians, a key arms supplier to Iran in recent years, dragged its feet on the S-300s for more than a year before deciding that delivering the missiles was banned under the fourth round of U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran in June 2010 for refusing to abandon its purported nuclear arms program.

The new sanctions regime gave Moscow the cover to renege on the $800 million deal in September.

But the decision to withhold the S-300s was largely political and part of its effort to improve relations with the West to help modernize strategic economic sectors.

The S-300 issue became a secret test for U.S. diplomacy at the highest levels and provided an opening for some strategic horse-trading.

By several accounts, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu agreed to sell the Russians 36 surveillance drones -- a field in which Russia is technologically deficient -- in a $100 million deal as part payment for scrapping the S-300 sale to Iran.

The United States and Israel had been particularly vehement in seeking to persuade Moscow to play ball because if Tehran acquired the S-300s its air-defense system would be dramatically strengthened to counter threatened pre-emptive Israeli airstrikes aimed at knocking out Iran's nuclear facilities.

The S-300 is considered one of the most advanced air-defense systems, ranking alongside the U.S. all-altitude Patriot system.

The S-300 can engage multiple targets, missiles as well as aircraft, at ranges of more than 100 miles at low and high altitudes.

Iran's air-defense system has nothing remotely as effective as the S-300.

The Russians are phasing it out with its own forces for the more advanced S-400. They're believed to be ahead of schedule in developing the S-500 system, which could be ready for production by the end of 2012.

In recent months, the Iranians have announced they're producing a range of indigenously developed weapons systems, including the Ghader anti-ship cruise missile.

There seems to be no shortage of new weapons programs, heightening Western skepticism about Tehran's endless claims.

While it's clear Iran has succeeded in making substantial technological advances, it's more likely to be focusing primarily on producing intermediate-range ballistic missiles like the Shehab-3 and the Sejjil-2 that are a crucial component of its nuclear program.

But air-defense is all-important as well, particularly as the Israelis are saber-rattling again and tension is mounting with the United States.

Edited November 30, 2011 by Ethans dad

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Iran says it is developing its own missile defense system after Russia last year blocked delivery of the formidable S-300PMU system, which had been purchased in 2007.

Israeli defense expert Uzi Rubin, architect of the Jewish state's evolving multilayer missile defense program, says Tehran may be getting help from North Korean weapons engineers.

Iranian news agencies quoted defense officials as saying the Iranian Bavar 373 system is a substitute for the five S-300 batteries Moscow refused to deliver. The Iranians claim their system is more advanced than the Russian S-300, which was developed by NPO Almaz of Moscow.

"The designing phase of the Bavar 373 missile system Â… is to be completed soon," said Brig. Gen. Farzad Esmaili of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which oversees missile development projects in Iran.

"We don't think about the S-300," he added. "This domestically built system has more advanced capabilities than the S-300."

"Intuitively, it's difficult to imagine that the Iranian system is as good as the S-300," Rubin told The Jerusalem Post. "Making the missile is the simple part. The problem is creating complex radars and other components.

"The effectiveness of the system depends on the radars. The Iranians have some skills in this but years of experience are needed. It's difficult to believe that this can be done in one generation."

However, Rubin observed, "there are indications they're not working alone."

He said North Korean engineers may be helping the Iranians, as they have frequently over the years. The Iranians, he noted, "may be on the way to reaching these capabilities."

Technology for North Korea's Taepodong series of ballistic missiles is widely considered to have been used in Iranian projects.

On May 13, a U.N. panel of experts submitted an 81-page report to the Security Council saying that Pyongyang, ever in need of funds, persistently exported, or attempted to export, ballistic missiles, missile components and the relevant technologies to Iran in recent years despite U.N. bans.

Russians, a key arms supplier to Iran in recent years, dragged its feet on the S-300s for more than a year before deciding that delivering the missiles was banned under the fourth round of U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran in June 2010 for refusing to abandon its purported nuclear arms program.

The new sanctions regime gave Moscow the cover to renege on the $800 million deal in September.

But the decision to withhold the S-300s was largely political and part of its effort to improve relations with the West to help modernize strategic economic sectors.

The S-300 issue became a secret test for U.S. diplomacy at the highest levels and provided an opening for some strategic horse-trading.

By several accounts, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu agreed to sell the Russians 36 surveillance drones -- a field in which Russia is technologically deficient -- in a $100 million deal as part payment for scrapping the S-300 sale to Iran.

The United States and Israel had been particularly vehement in seeking to persuade Moscow to play ball because if Tehran acquired the S-300s its air-defense system would be dramatically strengthened to counter threatened pre-emptive Israeli airstrikes aimed at knocking out Iran's nuclear facilities.

The S-300 is considered one of the most advanced air-defense systems, ranking alongside the U.S. all-altitude Patriot system.

The S-300 can engage multiple targets, missiles as well as aircraft, at ranges of more than 100 miles at low and high altitudes.

Iran's air-defense system has nothing remotely as effective as the S-300.

The Russians are phasing it out with its own forces for the more advanced S-400. They're believed to be ahead of schedule in developing the S-500 system, which could be ready for production by the end of 2012.

In recent months, the Iranians have announced they're producing a range of indigenously developed weapons systems, including the Ghader anti-ship cruise missile.

There seems to be no shortage of new weapons programs, heightening Western skepticism about Tehran's endless claims.

While it's clear Iran has succeeded in making substantial technological advances, it's more likely to be focusing primarily on producing intermediate-range ballistic missiles like the Shehab-3 and the Sejjil-2 that are a crucial component of its nuclear program.

But air-defense is all-important as well, particularly as the Israelis are saber-rattling again and tension is mounting with the United States.

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http://www.google.com/search?q=Iran+says+it+is+developing+its+own+missile+defense+system

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Who will be the first to launch a missile?

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Who will be the first to launch a missile?

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On the plus side, a missile defense system implies a desire to survive as opposed to being completely fatalistic. Maybe Iranian leadership is coming around to post-Noah era thinking?

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http://news.yahoo.com/britain-evacuates-embassy-staff-iran-073548492.html

Britain evacuates all embassy staff from Iran

By Marc Burleigh | AFP – 2 hrs 56 mins ago

Britain was Wednesday evacuating all its diplomatic staff from Iran following the storming of its embassy by Iranian protesters the day before, Western diplomatic sources told AFP.

A first group of embassy employees was already at Tehran airport about to be flown to Dubai, one European diplomat said.

The British diplomats had spent the night in the security of various EU embassies, notably the French mission, the diplomat said.

The evacuation was decided after Iranian protesters, some chanting "Death to Britain", overran Britain's two diplomatic compounds in Tehran for several hours Tuesday, tearing down the British flag and trashing embassy offices.

The protesters were reflecting official anger at Britain's decision last week to cut all relations with Iran's financial sector as part of a raft of new sanctions unveiled in coordination with the United States and Canada.

The storming of Britain's embassy sparked international condemnation, including a strongly worded statement from the UN Security Council.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon issued a statement Wednesday during a trip to South Korea saying he was "shocked and outraged to hear of the incident in Tehran in which demonstrators entered the British embassy, briefly abducted embassy staff and damaged property."

Even Russia -- Iran's closest major ally -- condemned the incursions as "unacceptable"

It took diplomatic police several hours to free six diplomats sequestered by hundreds of protesters inside a building in Britain's diplomatic compound in the north of the capital, the Fars news agency reported.

Inside the embassy in the city centre, several protesters scattered documents and set them alight, witnesses told AFP. One protester was seen looting a portrait of Queen ElizabethI.

Iran's foreign ministry expressed "regret" over the incident, but some Iranian officials were defiant, blaming the dramatic scenes on Britain's stance towards their country.

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani said the UN Security Council's condemnation was "hasty," state television reported.

He said "a number of students angered by the British government's behaviour" had carried out their actions because of "decades of domineering moves by the British in Iran."

The head of the parliament's security and foreign policy committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, told state news agency IRNA: "Iran respects all international laws and the Vienna Convention (on the protection of embassies) and this issue must in no way cause concern for other diplomats and embassies."

He, too, downplayed the storming of the embassy as "a manifestation of the students' high emotions."

Britain, though, called the acts "a very serious failure by the Iranian government." Britons were warned against non-essential travel to Iran and the few in the country were advised to stay indoors.

The United States -- which cut off diplomatic ties to Iran after students stormed its own embassy in 1979, taking 52 Americans hostage for 444 days -- also expressed alarm.

President Barack Obama said the storming of the embassy was "not acceptable" and that "all of us are deeply disturbed."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it "an affront not only to the British people but also to the international community."

Tuesday's demonstration had been organised days earlier, when the Iranian parliament passed a law to expel Britain's ambassador in retaliation for London's new sanctions.

Britain and the United States have been leading Western moves to step up pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme, which they fear is being used as cover for the development of a weapons capability.

The looting of the British embassy and compound came ahead of an EU foreign ministers' meeting on Thursday that is expected to unveil new sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme.

Iran has repeatedly denied its nuclear programme has a military component and has warned it will respond to any military attack by raining missiles on Israel and Turkey.