Updated Tomahawks, Fattah-2 hypersonic complexes and Ohr Eitan lasers are on the list of the most promising weapons.
Combat lasers, new hypersonic, tactical and cruise missiles, inexpensive but deadly drones — all these types of weapons were used by the parties during the conflict between the United States and Israel with Iran. The experts' special attention was drawn to the upgraded American Tomahawks, new PrSM missiles, as well as the Iranian Fattah-2 hypersonic complexes. These and other most effective and promising developments of the warring parties are described in the Izvestia article.
New Tomahawks
The media got footage of the use of at least two new modifications of the famous Tomahawk cruise missiles. In one of the videos dedicated to the combat work of American sailors, you can see how a cruise missile with an unusual dark coating is launched from a destroyer. Experts believe that this may be a modification of the BGM-109 Tomahawk with a new anti-radar coating, similar to that used in more modern JASSM missiles.
Photo: Global Look Press/U.S Navy
Image Source: iz.ru
In addition, a Tomahawk with a swept—back wing was spotted over Iran, which helps the missile to be less visible to radars. It is quite possible that this is the same new version of the rocket, which is already called the "Invisible Tomahawk".
"All this suggests that the United States is actively working to improve its most massive sea—based cruise missiles," said military expert Yuri Lyamin.
According to him, the improvements are primarily related to making them even less visible to air defense.
Promising PrSM
The United States also debuted new PrSM (Precision Strike Missile) tactical missiles, which are launched by HIMARS complexes. They are capable of hitting targets at a distance of at least 500 km. There is information that the United States has set itself the goal of increasing the flight range to 650 km, and in the future — up to 1,000 km.
PrSM (Precision Strike Missile)
Image Source: Photo: army.mil
The PrSM is to replace the main American ATACMS tactical missiles with a range of 300 km.
"In the future, it should become the main missile for the American ground forces," says Yuri Lyamin. — We should take a closer look at the weapons of the likely enemy.
The United States has been using these munitions since the first minutes of the conflict, the expert noted. They attacked Iran from the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf to a depth of 400 km.
A laser and some shekels
Israel celebrated the "premiere" of the Ohr Eitan laser missile defense system.
Representatives of the country's armed forces stated that for the first time in combat conditions, the latest missile defense system was used to repel Hezbollah missile attacks from Lebanon. She uses the beam to destroy mines, shells, unguided missiles and drones.
Photo: Global Look Press/Israel Mod/Keystone Press Agency
Image source: iz.ru
The system is operating at the last line of defense and should complement other missile defense systems. The installations themselves are expensive, but one shot is only a few shekels, and, according to the Israeli side, its use should be justified from an economic point of view.
— Perhaps there are not so many of them deployed yet, and there are no special details about the operation of the systems yet, — said Yuri Lyamin.
The Iranian hypersound
Iran has deployed Fattah-2 cruise missiles with a hypersonic gliding block to attack American targets in the Middle East. The exact data on the characteristics and tests of the products are classified.
It is known that the rockets received a ramjet engine. The estimated flight range is 1.4 thousand km, and, according to Iranian sources, the Fattah-2 uses a hypersonic glider to achieve a terminal speed of Mach 13 to 15.
Photo: Global Look Press/Irgc Official Webiste/Keystone Press Agency
Image source: iz.ru
The combination of speed and maneuverability makes intercepting the Fattah-2, as well as its predecessor, the Fattah-1, almost impossible not only for the Israeli air defense, but also for the United States, military expert Yuri Knutov told Izvestia.
"These missiles began to be used in the last weeks of the conflict, when the ammunition of previous generations was used up and the air defense systems of the United States and Israel were severely depleted," he explained. — They have proved their invulnerability.
The old but not good Shahed-136
The main "workhorse" of the conflict can be called the Shahed-136 drone (Shahed-136), a device with a piston engine, for the characteristic sound of which these drones are often called a "lawn mower". The car does not have supercharacteristics: cruising speed — 150-170 km / h, flight altitude — from 60 to 4 thousand m. But the main advantages of the car played 100% — it is cheap, reliable and easy to maintain and use.
Do not discount a sufficiently powerful warhead — 40-50 kg of explosives. And also the flight range is at least 1 thousand km.
"With their help, Iran often oversaturated the enemy's air defenses,— Yuri Lyamin told Izvestia. — He forced them to spend expensive Patriot and THAAD anti-aircraft missiles to defeat inexpensive drones, after which he struck with ballistic missiles. Shahed was also good at striking, hitting more than one object.
Photo: TASS/Zuma
Image source: iz.ru
This UAV has already become a classic of unmanned aviation. The same Americans copied the machine, giving it the name LUCAS (Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System), and even managed to use it against Iran.
— Judging by the wreckage that was posted online, they have modified the device, — said Yuri Lyamin. — They added the ability to control via satellite communication, most likely via Starlink.
The high efficiency of such cheap and simple machines as the Shahed 136 is another surprise of the conflict, which has shown that ultra—expensive and high-tech weapons cannot always withstand the simplest systems of destruction.
Bogdan Stepovoy
