Soumar (missile)


The Soumar (Persian: سومار) is an Iranian long-range cruise missile. The missile was named in the honour of a village called Soumar, whose inhabitants were all killed when Saddam Hussein’s regime attacked the village with chemical weapons. It is highly likely that the missile is derived from the Russian / Soviet Kh-55, several of which were illegally sold to Iran by Ukraine in 2001.[1]

Soumar
TypeCruise missile
Place of originIran
Service history
In service2012-present
Used bySee Users
Production history
VariantsSee Variants

According to Jonathan Ruhe and Blake Fleisher from the Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy (part of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, Washington D.C.), nuclear capable cruise missiles, such as the Soumar, were overlooked in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program and UN Security Council Resolution 2231.[2]

On 9 September 2012, Iranian media quoted Iran's deputy defense minister that a medium-range cruise missile called Meshkat will be revealed soon.[3] He mentioned that the missile can be fired from ground, air and sea and will have a range of 2000 km. However the unveiling did not happen until 2015.

In 2015 a long-range cruise missile was revealed under the name “Soumar”. The design closely resembles the Kh-55 that Iran acquired from Ukraine in 2001.[4] Because of the similarities media have speculated its range as between 2000 and 3000 km.[5]

On 2 February 2019 Iran unveiled the Hoveyzah Cruise Missile, a surface-to-surface missile with a claimed range of more than 1,350 kilometres during celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution. According to Israeli sources Hoveyzeh cruise missile can bypass all existing American and Israeli defense systems and hit any target in the Israeli territories without being detected.[6][7]

References
  1. http://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/soumar/ CSIS Missile Threat - Soumar
  2. Ruhe, Jonathan; Fleisher, Blake (2016-02-21). "The Overlooked Iranian Missile Threat". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  3. "Iran to unveil Meshkat medium-range cruise missile". PressTV. Tehran. 2012-09-09. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
  4. "Iran unveils new long-range cruise missile". Haaretz. 2015-03-08. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  5. "Iran reveals new Soumar ground-launched cruise missile". Janes Defense. 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  6. Iran unveils long-range Hoveyzeh cruise missile presstv.com
  7. Iran’s new cruise missile can reach Israel undetected: Israeli report presstv.com

CSIS Missile Threat - Soumar

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