Iran could be getting outside help in developing its own missile defense system,
a preeminent Israeli missile expert told The Jerusalem Post on
Tuesday.
Uzi Rubin, an architect of Israel’s missile defense program, was
responding to Iranian reports boasting of a new domestic missile defense system
named “Bavar 373,” which Tehran claimed was “a substitution for S-300 (Russian)
missile system.”
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The S-300 was an aerial defense platform that was denied
to the Islamic Republic by Moscow in 2010, despite an earlier agreement to
purchase it. It was supposed to defend Iranian nuclear sites against foreign
missiles and fighter jet attacks.
“Intuitively, it is difficult to
imagine that the Iranian system is as good as the S-300,” Rubin
said.
“Making the missile is the simple part. The problem is
creating complex radars and other components. The effectiveness of the system
depends on the radars. The Iranians have some skills in this, but years of
experience are needed. It’s difficult to believe this can be done in one
generation,” Rubin said.
However, “there are indications they are not
working alone,” Rubin added, saying that North Korean weapons engineers may be
providing assistance.
“They may be on the way to reaching these
capabilities,” he said.
A report by the semi-official Iranian Student
News Agency on Tuesday quoted the commander of the Khatamol al-Anbiya Air
Defense Base, Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, as saying that the Bavar 373 had
“higher and more advanced capabilities than the S-300” and that the system would
be “completed soon.”
Earlier this month, the Yonhap South Korean News
Agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying that “hundreds of North Korean
nuclear and missile experts have been collaborating with their Iranian
counterparts in more than 10 locations across the Islamic state... including
Natanz and Qom.”
One of the most advanced multi-target anti-aircraft
missile systems in the world, the S-300 has a reported ability to track up to
100 targets simultaneously while engaging up to 12 at the same time.
In
Israel, there are two schools of thought with regard to the severity of the
S-300 threat. On the one hand, there are those who argue that all means need to
be used to prevent the system from reaching Iran.
Iran drilled a defense
of its radar network in recent days against the electronic warfare of a
hypothetical enemy, the ISNA said in a separate report on Tuesday.
Yaakov
Katz contributed to this report.
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