Iran Manufactures New Smart Bombs

Iran has developed a new 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) smart bomb called ‘Ghadr’. Ghadr is a guided optical bomb and is considered as a new version of Qased (Messenger), another 2,000-pound smart bomb manufactured by Iran earlier this year. Qased can be deployed by Iran’s F-4 and F-5 fighter jets.

The bomb, equipped with a smart guiding system, is produced by few countries due to the advanced technical know-how required for its production and Iran is the last in the chain of countries which have succeeded in developing the technology.

Qased has been successfully tested by such fighter jets as F4 and F5.

The Iranian defense ministry has recently launched several other production lines for manufacturing different military tools and arsenals.

Iran launched its own arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq in response to a US-led arms embargo, and since 1992 the country has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, and missiles.

Earlier this year, Iran started industrial-scale production of its own fighter jets, known as Azarakhsh (Lightning) and Saeqeh (Thunderbolt).

Iran last year test-fired an “ultra-horizon” missile, two powerful torpedoes and a Fajr-e Darya missile capable of avoiding radars and hitting several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads during extensive military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf.
Earlier this month, Iran showed off a new longer-range missile named the “Ghadr,” saying it had a range of 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles), in an annual military parade to mark the eight-year Iraqi imposed war.

The “Ghadr” (Power) appears to be an upgrade of Iran’s existing longer-range missile the Shahab-3, which according to Iranian officials has a range of 1,300 kilometers (805 miles).

Iran faces pressure from the western countries over its nuclear progress.

The United States and its ally Israel have never ruled out using military strikes to stop Iran’s nuclear progress.

Tehran has insisted it would never launch any attack against a foreign country, but it has also warned of a crushing response to any aggression.

“Iran is an influential power in the region and the world should know that this power has always served peace, stability, brotherhood and justice,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.