Iranian Missile More Lethal As Military Adapts Its Use

 

 

„The Kheibar Shekan missile is the workhorse of Tehran's arsenal -- a cheap, mobile, accurate weapon with a range of at least 900 miles. And recently, Iran has been using it in complex attacks, proving itself to be an adaptable adversary for the U.S.

 

Since the fighting picked back up, Iran has been firing the Kheibar Shekan at American bases, U.S. officials said. It is using a combination of different flight paths, maneuvers and speeds to try to confuse U.S. defenses, they say.

 

The U.S. and its partners have shot down most Kheibar Shekans throughout the war, one of the U.S. officials said, but some have gotten through.

 

Unlike Iran's older missiles that require lengthy prelaunch fueling, military analysts say the Kheibar Shekans can be kept fueled and loaded quickly into trucks or other vehicles for launching in an attempt to evade U.S. and Israeli warplanes seeking to knock out Iranian missile sites.

 

In some variants of the missile, the nose section, which carries the explosive warhead and detaches during the final phase of flight, is equipped with a small engine that makes it capable of adjusting its direction as it nears its target at 6,000 miles an hour, analysts and officials said.

 

Ballistic missiles travel into the upper atmosphere or space before plunging back down toward a target, but not all are capable of maneuvering. Military analysts who have studied the Kheibar Shekan said it can vary its trajectory more than some other ballistic missiles in an attempt to make it harder to detect and destroy.

 

Iran is also launching high-speed attack drones and less sophisticated missiles at the same locations it is targeting with the satellite-guided Kheibar Shekans, adapting its tactics throughout the war, the U.S. officials said.

 

Since the ceasefire collapsed, Iran has targeted housing areas where U.S. troops stay at bases across the Middle East, officials say. Iran has also gone after the radars that underpin air defenses, a strategy that puts American servicemembers at greater risk, they say.

 

"I think what it tells us is Iran is paying attention, and they're learning and they're looking at ways that they can get at us," said retired Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who has led U.S. Central Command. "This is a military that has a well-developed drone capability, it's had a missile program, a rocket program for a long period of time. They've got a lot of expertise in this area."

 

Iran "has seen what types of maneuvers are the most effective ones for overcoming missile defense," said Fabian Hinz, an independent missile expert. "Every single combat use gives you some sort of data, so that's very useful for the Iranians."“ [1]

 

1. World News: Iranian Missile More Lethal As Military Adapts Its Use. Cloud, David S; Holliday, Shelby.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 27 July 2026: A6.