INEGMA Symposium on Iranian Missile and Air Defense.

INEGMA Symposium on Iranian Missile and Air Defense.HT: UskowiOnIran.

Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA) on Sunday concluded its Middle East Missile and Air Defense Symposium (MEMAD 2014) conference in Abu Dhabi. Subject matter experts in air and missile defense, military officials and defense industry officials attended the two-day conference.

Michael Codner, a senior research fellow at RUSI Defense Systems, discussing the future of cruise missile capabilities in the Gulf, said, “Iranian cruise missiles are predominantly anti-ship and used for coastal protection, but it is not difficult to change their role either temporarily or permanently.” (INEGMA, 28 April)

Iran’s cruise missile program is developed on Chinese technology, and the conference participants emphasized that China is and will be a “benchmark” for future capabilities in Iran.

“Chinese cruise missile development will give a key indication as to what is likely to be available to Iran,” Codner said. “It would be wrong to assume that China will be an automatic ally to any adversarial power in the Gulf, but it is a benchmark for future threat capabilities.”

Rear Admiral James Loeblein, deputy commander of U.S. NAVCENT, said, “When short distances are combined with proliferation of advanced cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, the maritime environment can be exceedingly complex… But it also provides us with a tremendous tactical advantage by compressing the opposition's command and control timeline.”