MODAFL unveils upgraded Qader and Nasr air-lanched missile systems

 

IRIAF F-4E Phantom II alongside upgraded air-launched Qadr and Nasr missiles 

Formal unveiling of Project Dowran: air launched Nasr (C-704 variant) and Qader (extended range C-802/3 variant). Claimed ranges are 35 km and 200 km, respectively, with latter claimed GPS assisted.

Abbas Dowran was an IRIAF fighter pilot, KIA and hero of the Imposed War (1980-88). He received his flight training at Columbus AFB (CBM / KCBM), a USAF base located in Mississippi, USA.

 Video:

Photo: MODAFL

Iranian-American Scholar Named Dean of SAIS

Vali Nasr, an Iranian-American and a leading Middle East scholar and foreign policy advisor was named the dean of the prestigious School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS.)

Nasr, 51, has been a professor of international politics at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy since 2007. He is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the US State Department’s Foreign Policy Advisory Board. For two years, from 2009 until last year, he also served as special adviser to Richard Holbrooke, who was then the president’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nasr, 51, will join SAIS on July 1.

SAIS is a leading graduate school of international affairs with a stellar reputation for preparing its students for careers in government and international organizations. The school was founded in 1943 and is a Washington-based division of the Johns Hopkins University.

“Vali Nasr is a distinguished scholar and teacher, an adept policy analyst and adviser, a highly regarded public intellectual and an accomplished administrator,” said Ronald J. Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins.

Source: The Johns Hopkins University Gazette, 27 March 2012.

Photo: Vali R. Nasr / The JHU Gazette

Iranian C-704 missiles displayed at Ashdod

Israel has put on display the Iranian C-704 "Nasr" missiles found aboard the cargo ship Vistoria, in Ashdod.

Had these missiles been successfully delivered and deployed, they might have had an impact on the ongoing siege of Gaza. But they were not delivered and surprise has been lost, so the siege continues.

In the mid term, Gazans' best chance of relief appears to rest on an upcoming Egyptian government becoming truly representative, with a foreign policy reflective of Egyptian popular sentiment. It's a big "if" but if attained, the siege may finally be lifted.

IDF press cue, providing content details. Note the logo and translated addendum.

C-704 command and control system

Two box cannisters containing Nasr AShMs

C-704 "Nasr" missile detail (1)

C-704 "Nasr" missile detail (2)

H/T Tom Cooper at ACIG.org

Documents Aboard Victoria Identify Nasr Missiles

Israel Defense Force (IDF) reports they have found identifying documents on the intercepted cargo ship Victoria related to the Iranian made C-704 “Nasr” AShMs that were aboard the ship. Below is the translation of the above document written in Farsi.

In the Name of God

IRGC's Emblem (right side)

IRI Emblem (left side)

Missile Technical Identification Card

Volume 1, 2

System: C704

Missile Type: Nasr

Missile serial Number: SA880805

Export Date: 15 Farvardin 1389 (5 April 2010)

Source: Elm-ol-Hada Industries

C-704 "Nasr" missiles found on intercepted cargo ship

According to IDF sources, six Iranian made C-704 "Nasr" AShMs have been found on the intercepted cargo ship Victoria.

A container aboard the Victoria holding a C-704 "Nasr"

The IDF has released an inventory of weapons found on the Victoria:

230 mortar shells, 120 mm
2,270 mortar shells, 60 mm
6 C-704 anti-ship missiles
2 radar systems manufactured in England
2 launchers
2 hydraulic mounting cranes for radar system
66,960 bullets for the Kalashnikov, 7.62 millimeter

It's an interesting selection of arms. Had the AShM delivery been successful, it would have provided quite a surprise. It's not certain they would have solely been used in the ASh role either, perhaps offering a more variable missile strike capability for Gaza defense forces. Mortar ordnance, also, is in demand given the immense tactical strengths of the IDF and the relatively puny resources of the Gaza defense forces.

Given the successful deployment of somewhat larger Iranian AShMs during the 33-Day war, we're left to speculate on the effectiveness of a C-704 in the Gaza theater, particularly had its successful deployment possessed the element of surprise. It's relative size would have better facilitated delivery through the current blockade and provided Gaza defense forces with a considerably more potent strike capability; this force which has had to make due with the meager resources of crude, homemade rocket artillery types of negligible tactical value.

File photo: comparative size of the C-704 "Nasr "

Vali Nasr in Iran

Vali Nasr

Photo published by Tabnak . 12 May 2009

Iran’s news website Tabnak is reporting that Vali Nasr, an Iran expert and an assistant to Richard Holbrooke, Obama’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is visiting Tehran. Tabnak is linking Nasr’s visit to Iran to Roxana Saberi’s release from prison [Tabnak, 12 May 2009].

No independent confirmation of Nasr’s visit to Iran or his role in Saberi’s freedom were available.

Tabnak's report also indicates that Nasr's visit was arranged by Majlis speaker Ali Larijani and former Majlis speaker Haddad Adel, hinting that they obtained Ayatollah Khamenei's approval for the visit. The article also claims that President Ahmadinejad was kept in dark and was not told about the visit until after Nasr arrived in Tehran.

UPDATE: Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki confirmed Vali Nasr's visit to Tehran. Responding to a reporter's question on Nasr's visit, Mottaki said in Tehran that "Iranians anywhere in the world can visit their country." [Aftab Yazd, 14 May 2009].

UPDATE II: ISNA reports that US Department of State has denied reports that Nasr has visited Iran [14 May 2009].