'Iran's Ballistic Missile Development Program Not Confined to Any Range': Defense Minister.

'Iran's Ballistic Missile Development Program Not Confined to Any Range': Defense Minister. (Fars).

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan underlined that his country sees no limit for the range of the ballistic missiles that it is developing.

"We don’t have any limit for the range of liquid or solid-fueled ballistic missiles," Dehqan said in a meeting in the Central city of Isfahan on Saturday.

He underlined the indigenous nature of most Iranian weapons and military equipment, and said, "90 percent of the country's defense systems have reached an acceptable standard and enjoy competitive quality compared with the weapons of advanced countries; production of the national individual weapons and efforts to improve the quality and precision-striking power of ballistic missiles are among the defense ministry's achievements in the defense field."

General Dehqan added that Iranian experts have also taken long strides in building satellites, satellite carriers, missile launchpads and research work in defense areas.

His remarks came as the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) fired 2 home-made 'Qadr H' ballistic missiles from the Eastern Alborz Mountains at a target in Iran's Southeastern Makran seashore some 1400km away in March.

The missiles were fired on the sidelines of the main stage of the IRGC drills in Central Iran and various parts of the country.

One missile had a message written on it that said in Hebrew: "Israel should be wiped off the Earth".

Qadr is a 2000km-range, liquid-fuel and ballistic missile which can reach territories as far as Israel.

The missile can carry different types of ‘Blast’ and ‘MRV’ (Multiple Reentry Vehicle) payloads to destroy a range of targets. The new version of Qadr H can be launched from mobile platforms or silos in different positions and can escape missile defense shields due to their radar-evading capability.

Improved warhead designs allow smaller warheads for a given yield, while better electronics and guidance systems allowed greater accuracy. As a result MIRV technology has proven more attractive than MRV for advanced nations. 

Because of the larger amount of nuclear material consumed by MRVs and MIRVs, single warhead missiles are more attractive for nations with less advanced technology. The United States deployed an MRV payload on the Polaris A-3. The Soviet Union deployed MRVs on the SS-9 Mod 4 ICBM. Hmmmm.....Anyone remembering how Iran's BFF North Korea is working on miniaturized nuclear warheads?