Wikipedia

Saegheh

For the shoulder-launched anti-tank rocket, see Saegheh (rocket). For the Iranian fighter aircraft, see HESA Saeqeh. For the stealth UCAV, see Saegheh (UAV).

The Saegheh ("Lightning" or "Thunder" in Persian) (also spelled Saegre, Saeghe, Saeqeh, etc.) is any of at least eight completely separate Iranian weapons systems: a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) warhead, an anti-tank guided missile family, a surface-to-surface rocket, a target drone family, an air-to-air missile, a claimed stealth unmanned aerial vehicle, a fighter jet, and an anti-ship cruise missile.

The Saeghe 1 (cutaway, front) and a Saeghe 2 (rear)

History edit

The first system, the Saeghe 1, is an Iranian reverse-engineered clone of the American M47 Dragon wire-guided SACLOS ATGM, introduced in 2001.[1][2] It seems to have entered production in 2002.[3] Iran later introduced the Saeghe 2, a more advanced variant with a tandem-warhead to defeat explosive reactive armor,[4] and the Saeghe-4, with a thermobaric warhead.[5] The Saeghe-1 weights 6.1 kilograms (13 lb) and can penetrate armor up to 500 millimetres (20 in). The 7.4-kilogram (16 lb) Saeghe 2 missile has a tandem warhead and can penetrate up to 760 millimetres (30 in) of armor.[4] The Saeghe 1 and Saeghe 2 ATGMs have a range of 50 to 1,000 metres (160 to 3,280 ft).[4]

Despite being essentially obsolete, Saegheh anti-tank guided missiles have been exported to Syria, Hezbollah,[6] and Shia militias in Iraq. The Saeghe 1 and Saeghe 2 were in production and service as of 2011, though they were not widely deployed.[7] The Saeghe ATGM is extremely hard to aim and in Iranian service it appears to be limited to IRGC and rapid response forces.[8]

In 2006, Iran tested a completely unrelated short-range surface-to-surface missile[9] that is also named Saegheh. It has a range of 80 to 250 kilometres (50 to 155 mi).[9]

Other Saegheh name designations edit

Under the Saegheh name, Iran has also built a variant warhead for RPG-7 style rocket launchers. Iran also uses the Saeghe name for a target drone[10] (which comes in two variants: Saeghe 1 and Saeghe 2[11]) and an air-to-air missile.[12]

The semi-official Tasnim news agency of Iran reported in September 2016 that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, drone) named Saegheh similar to the US RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone had been built. It was said to be able to carry four precision-guided bombs; range was not stated. An RQ-170 had been captured by Iran in 2011.[13]

The Saegheh name is further reused for the HESA Saeqeh, a low production jet fighter, and for the Saeghe anti-ship cruise missile.[14]

References edit

  1. ^ People's Daily Online Iran Successfully Test-fires Anti-Armor Missile
  2. ^ Pavland News Iran test-fires anti-armor missile - July 31, 2001
  3. ^ "Middle East Newsline -". www.menewsline.com. Archived from the original on 8 May 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "10 نوع موشک ضدزره ایران از توفان تا دهلاویه + عکس". 14 July 2012.
  5. ^ "Иранские ПТУР Saeghe 2 и Saeghe 4 в Ираке". 28 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Common ATGMs in the Syrian Civil War". Medium. 17 August 2016. Archived from the original on 26 March 2018.
  7. ^ Galen Wright, Iranian Military Capability 2011 - Ground Forces - March 15th 2011
  8. ^ Lyamin, Yuri (5 October 2012). "Легкое противотанковое вооружение Ирана. Часть 1" (in Russian).
  9. ^ a b China View Iran tests short-range missile
  10. ^ "NTI: Country Overviews: Iran: Missile Chronology". www.nti.org. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  11. ^ http://www.mindexcenter.ir/product/saeghe-2-aerial-target-system
  12. ^ "Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) / Saeqeh-80 / Azarakhsh-2". Global Security.
  13. ^ "Iran builds attack drone similar to captured US model, local media say". The Guardian. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  14. ^ "Saeqeh / Ahoya / AHWA - HY-2 C201 Silkworm/Seersucker".

External links edit

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