Iran's new fastest torpedo

DPRKPTboat said:

Some sources are telling me its a torpedo, others tell me its a missiles. The footage showed a missile. Did they build a missile or a torpedo? Or did they build both?

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In answer to your question I'm they have claimed to have both a new missile and a torpedo. The quality of said weapons is of course in question. The stories were released on consecutive days. Of course the US DoD had it's spokesman out saying all the alarmist things he's susposed to...What dribble. The US and Isreal had to see this comming if it is indeed true.

Anyone know what the range is? Because it would seem those would be deadly weapons if they were dropped from an aircraft, in and out really quick if the range is long enough to avoid anti-aircraft systems.

Of course, as BD said the quality of these weapons are in question. Sure it looks fast, but I'm still skeptical. The scary thing is that this is obviously a gesture of warning saying that Iran will of course defend itself, and that tensions are rising in the region and it's going to come to a head one way or another. The U.S. is serious about not letting Iran's NWP continue either diplomatically or otherwise, and Iran has a legitimate claim to develop nuclear technology so they don't think they should have to stop. And when Iran feels like it's being bullied by a hypocritical U.S. it has countries like North Korea to look to for reassurance.

How will things turn out? Well, we'll see.

pffff, the german barracuda torpedo makes 800 km/h

however, this is just iranian propaganda

I found the range was about 7000m... probably not good enough to drop by aircraft.

I also saw on CDF that the vidoe footage being shown with the FAC it was being launched from was one of those shipped from China. Interesting to see if the launcher was installed by the Iranians or the Chinese since China has been rumored to have aquired the same torpedo from Russia.

In my opinion, that "torpedo" is of limited use. If one notice the video, the "torpedo" is launched on a platform above the waterline. Having said that, Iran's most potent naval weapon is the Club-S missiles recently retrofitted in 3 of her Kilo class subs. There is a report out saying Iran has 6 Kilo class subs. Supposely Iran is thought to have only 3 Kilo class subs, since the U.S. warned Russia not to deliver anymore than the 3 Iran already acquired from Russia. Either the report is erroneous, or Russia made another 3 clandestine Kilo sub sales to Iran.

P.S. it's good tactic to NOT show your best weapons to your enemies, especially before a potential conflict. That's another reason why that "torpedo" demonstration is more show than substance.:coffee:

I saw another version of the article and almost choked:


TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran announced its second major new missile test
within days, saying Sunday it has successfully fired a high-speed
underwater missile capable of destroying huge warships and submarines.

The tests came during war games that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have
been holding in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea since Friday at a time of
increased tensions with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.

The Iranian-made underwater missile has a speed of 223 miles per hour, said
Gen. Ali Fadavi, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards' Navy.

That would make it about three or four times faster than a torpedo and as
fast as the world's fastest known underwater missile, the Russian-made
VA-111 Shkval, developed in 1995. It was not immediately known if the
Iranian missile, which has not yet been named, was based on the Shkval.

"It has a very powerful warhead designed to hit big submarines. Even if
enemy warship sensors identify the missile, no warship can escape from this
missile because of its high speed," Fadavi told state-run television.

It was not immediately clear whether the ship-fired missile can carry a
nuclear warhead.


Ugh. Let's see:

* The Shkval was developed in 1960's - 1970's, not 1995...
* The original unguided version of the Shkval rocket torpedo is advertised to have speeds of 230 mph. It's rumored that Russian navy's own version goes >360 mph and is guided.
* If the Iranian variant has speeds of 223 mph, it's prolly based on export version of Shkval and definately not "4x faster".
* The export version of Shkval is said to have range of ~7km. Compare that with MK 48 torpedo at 37km - 56+km range.

7000m? That doesn't sound much. I don't think that would be enough for an Iranian aircraft or FAC to fire the missile and escape undetected. And I'm not sure if Iran has any aircraft that could carry this thing. F-4s and F-14s are to small. I could imagine Iran modifying some of its P-3s, though.

Comparison of conventional torpedoes:

United States Mk48 Adcap Thermal propulsion 30Km(65kts), 50Km(40Kts)
Wire guided and passive/activeacoustic homing

Russia SET-65KE Thermal propulsion 50Km(60Kts), 100Km(30Kts)
Wake Homer

Japan Type 89 Electric/Battery(Ag/Zn) propulsion 30Km(70Kts)
Active/Passive

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Assume Iran's Kilo subs are armed with SET-65KE torpedoes, then it can launch its torpedoes at a range of up to 100 km.:coffee:

DPRKPTboat said:

7000m? That doesn't sound much. I don't think that would be enough for an Iranian aircraft or FAC to fire the missile and escape undetected. And I'm not sure if Iran has any aircraft that could carry this thing. F-4s and F-14s are to small. I could imagine Iran modifying some of its P-3s, though.

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LAUNCH THEM FROM SHORE THEN. form the videos, it appeared the torpedos could be fired from submarines too.

After all, the gulf of oman is not that large. whether or not the speed of this torpedo will directly impact its range though, we dont know.