Iran's Castle Breaker missiles struck US bases in Jordan this week. What are they?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Iran's Castle Breaker missiles struck US bases in Jordan this week. What are they?")
IRGC shared videos of the missiles being used on US targets. Photograph: (IRGC)
US-Iran war: Iran has been attacking US targets in the Middle East with its newer Kheibar Shekan ballistic missiles. The medium-range missile was recently used against a US jet maintenance facility and a new command-and-control centre in Jordan’s Azraq.
Iran used its Kheibar Shekan missile on US military targets and infrastructure in the Middle East this week. The missile, which means Castle Breaker in Persian, has emerged as an important weapon in Tehran's arsenal in its war against the US. While Donald Trump has been claiming that Iran no longer has many weapons, the country has been demonstrating that that's not true by using the medium-range ballistic missile to hit enemy targets.
US and Iran renewed strikes this week after the former attacked rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. In response, Iran struck several US bases in the region, such as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Kheibar Shekan missile has emerged as a massive force in these strikes.
What is Kheibar Shekan missile?
Developed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), it is a medium-range missile capable of striking targets 1,450km away. It can carry a warhead weighing 449kg to 590kg. The missile was launched in 2022; the word Kheibar means a fortified settlement, while Shekan means breaker or destroyer.
It is a solid-fuel missile, which means it is pre-loaded with fuel. Typically, adding fuel to missiles can take hours. But since the Kheibar already has the needed fuel, it saves crucial time in a moment of crisis and can be launched within minutes. They are easier to operate and become harder to detect because of this logistical advantage.
Solid fuel also means that it does not break down even if stored inside the missiles for a long time. Since it is extremely dense, it burns quickly and provides a powerful thrust to the missile.
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Missiles in US-Iran war
According to state broadcaster IRIB, Iran has been using the missiles since the start of the war on February 28. It recently used them to carry out retaliatory attacks on US assets in Jordan. Iran used the missiles to hit a US jet maintenance facility and a new command-and-control centre in Jordan’s Azraq. IRGC has also released videos showing the Kheibar Shekan missiles being used in conjunction with Fateh-110, Zolfaghar and Emad ballistic missiles.
Iran's missile arsenal
Iran has both short- and medium-range missiles. Fateh variants - Zolfaghar, Qiam-1 and Shahab-1/2 - have a range of roughly 150km to 800km. The medium-range ballistic missiles include Shahab-3, Emad, Ghadr-1, the Khorramshahr variants and Sejjil, Haj Qassem and Kheibar Shekan. It cruise missiles include Soumar, Ya-Ali, the Quds variants, Hoveyzeh, Paveh and Ra’ad.
