Russia Secretly Helped Iran Develop Advanced Missiles
Investigators say the C430L program began in 2023 and continued into 2026, with Russian specialists helping Iran refine ramjet missile design.
- Russia has secretly supported Iran's C430L missile program since 2023, according to a Financial Times report published on Tuesday. The covert initiative aims to develop ramjet-powered cruise missiles capable of targeting United States Navy aircraft carriers across the Middle East.
- Analysts describe the collaboration as a strategic exchange: Tehran provides drones for the war in Ukraine, while Moscow shares missile technology and expertise. The program focuses on ramjet engines, allowing missiles to fly at several times the speed of sound.
- Leaked records show NPO Mashinostroyenia engineers made repeated trips to Iran in 2023. Fabian Hinz, a senior analyst with Conflict Armament Research, called this the "transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology" Iran has sought for decades.
- Correspondence reviewed by investigators shows this work continued into 2026, with Russian officials preparing technical reports for Tehran. Support provided significant assistance during Iranian attacks on Gulf states.
- Nicole Grajewski, a professor at a university in Paris, suggests Russia aims to broaden the Ukraine war and draw the United States into different theatres. Such missiles would travel fast and low, leaving Western air defenses with less time to react.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Russia, within the framework of a secret multi-year C430L programme, is helping Iran to master the technology of supersonic cruise missiles that could pose a threat to United States aircraft carriers and other warships in the Middle East.
Secret program C430L, started in 2023, recruited Russian missile experts to equip Iran with weapons capable of hitting US aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.
Conflict returns to scale in the Middle East with exchange of attacks between the US and Iran Russia is secretly helping Iran to develop a new generation of supersonic cruise missiles, according to an investigation published by the British newspaper Financial Times on Tuesday (1st). According to the newspaper, the program began in 2023 and involves Russian missile experts and companies linked to the country's defense sector. The goal would be to…
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