Last year, Iran proudly presented the Fattah-1 hypersonic missile it developed itself. Now it has apparently been used for the first time. What makes the weapon special?
Iran said it used its Fattah-1 hypersonic missile for the first time in the attack on Israel on Tuesday evening. The missile managed to overcome Israeli air defenses, Iranian state broadcasting claimed. Israel has not yet confirmed this.
The Fattah-1 was presented on June 6, 2023 in the presence of then President Ebrahim Raisi. “The precision-guided Fattah hypersonic missile has a range of 1,400 kilometers and is capable of penetrating all defense shields,” said Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force, at the time. The religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chose the name, which means “conqueror” in German. The rocket was unveiled on the anniversary of the death of Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, who is considered the father of Iranian rocket technology. He died in an explosion at a missile base in 2011.
According to Iranian information, the missile will reach 14 times the speed of sound, making it impossible for the enemy to launch projectiles. However, this information is doubtful: the Russian Kinschal supersonic missile supposedly reaches ten times the speed of sound, but according to Western experts, this information is more of propaganda.
The Iranian Fattah-1 missile is also said to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. According to Iranian information, it uses solid propellants that are intended to enable high maneuverability, rocket developer Hajizadeh explained last year, adding: “The Fattah cannot be destroyed by any other missile due to its movement in different directions and heights.” This claim has not yet been confirmed either.
If the information from Tehran is confirmed, the mullahs’ regime would now be a member of an exclusive club: So far, the USA, Russia, China and North Korea were considered the only countries that had successfully tested hypersonic missiles.
Iran fired around 180 rockets in the attack on Israel. However, it is still unclear how many Fattah-1 projectiles were used. Tehran said the Revolutionary Guards had successfully targeted Israeli missile defense systems, demonstrating the effectiveness of the Fattah-1 against advanced air defense technologies. The Israeli military said there were strikes in several locations in the country. Video recordings also show individual impacts in which the projectiles hit inhabited areas at enormous speed.
