Yasin Satellite Guided Glide Bomb
The missile named "Yasin" – named after a surah, or chapter, in the Koran – is a smart folding-wing missile that can be fired from a distance of 50 kilometers (30 miles) from manned or unmanned aircraft. In a ceremony in Tehran on 06 August 2019, Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami unveiled the new homegrown munitions, including the ‘Yaseen’ and ‘Balaban’ guided smart bombs. Yaseen is a smart, long-range guided bomb that can be used in all weather conditions, is mounted on various types of manned aircraft and drones, enjoys safety features, and could be used in the operations against the short- and long-range targets.
The issue of long-range strikes has long been an important and vital issue for the world's air forces, and having this capability, especially with the development of air defense systems and long-range air-to-air missiles, is a major winner for any air force and attack aircraft. For this reason, the types of surface-to-air missiles and, of course, guided bombs, which are usually equipped with bulk or propulsion systems, have been developed in different countries in recent years and have become part of the standard combat and weapons organization of various fighters.
As is clear, the main purpose of developing these weapons is to keep fighter jets and pilots away from the bite of enemy air defense systems or interceptor birds. In recent years, with the advancement of electronics and the provision of various upgrades for fighters of various generations, we have seen that guided bombs and long-range missiles can be used even for third-generation fighters.
In August 1995, a major achievement for the IRGC Air Force was the re-operation of the Sukhoi 22 attack aircraft; The planes had been out of operation in Iran for years. With the re-operation of these variable-wing and supersonic birds, a new series of weapons was defined for them, one of which was the Yassin series guided bombs. At the time of the unveiling of these bombs, it was not clear that we were in fact facing Yassin because we were facing two winged bombs in front of the overhauled aircraft at the unveiling ceremony, but at the same time, many experts stated that Iran has acquired remote-controlled satellite bombs.
The bomb uses a 500-pound or 225-kilogram warhead and weighs about 300 kilograms with an increased range and accuracy, including wings and wings and navigation and guidance systems. Yassin, with its navigation systems and satellite guidance, achieves very high accuracy, which has been seen in the error of less than 10 meters in previous experiments.
At the same time, the Air Force war game on January 95 released the first images of a new attack by the Air Force F-7 was installed. This bomb was the same Yassin that had been seen some time ago in the service of the IRGC. In the news related to the army exercise, it was revealed that this bomb was called Yassin and had a range of about 60 kilometers.
The F-7s are in fact Chinese copies of the former Soviet-made MiG-21, which was produced in very large numbers by both the Chinese Air Force and exported in large quantities to its allies. The F-7 entered the Army Air Force Combat Organization in the years after the end of the imposed war as a point training and air defense aircraft. In the service of the Iranian army, the aircraft previously had no combat capability other than artillery, infrared air-to-air missiles, and, of course, free-fall bombs and unguided missiles.
The ability to launch a bomb from a distance of about 60 km means that the aircraft can easily operate and attack its target at a distance of almost all short-range air defense systems and part of short-range defense systems. This ability is especially effective in attacking the targets of terrorist groups equipped with short-range air defense systems and ensures the safety of their own birds. Of course, over time, by adding laser, optical, or propulsion systems to these bombs, their accuracy can be increased, and even used to engage moving targets over 100 kilometers away.
It is impossible to talk about heavy airstrikes in Iran and not mention the legendary bomber of Nahaja, the F-4 Phantom. This powerful bird was the backbone of the Air Force of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran and in 8 years of holy defense, it was responsible for a large part of the battle, especially in the discussion of air strikes on the surface. In the post-war years, the country's defense industry undertook many projects to upgrade the combat capability of the phantoms, most of which involved cruise missiles. In recent years, we have seen the installation of a new fire control radar system on phantoms, which is an important step in upgrading these valuable birds.
But during the Nahaja exercise called Defenders of the Sky 99, which was hosted by the Shahid Babaei Air Base in Isfahan, Nahaja phantoms were also equipped with Yasin series bombs. The important point about this achievement is that the Phantom is the first Western fighter in Iran to be equipped with this class of weapons, because the previous birds in this category that were equipped with this bomb inside Iran are made in the Eastern Bloc. This shows that Iranian experts have reached a comprehensive software and acceptance system on both Eastern and Western birds in the country and can install the desired bombs on all platforms in the country. It can be speculated that the next candidate to install Yasin-series guided bombs may be the Sukhoi 24 fighter jets of the Army Air Force. In any case, this direct attack capability is a very important step in increasing the combat capability of the country, especially F-4 Phantom fighters.
To date, it is not clear what the process of acquiring Iran's armed forces with satellite-guided bombs was like, but in any case, this issue was done in a media silence and with a lot of effort and planning at the height of sanctions and without the need for external consultations and equipment. And now signs of it are revealed; An action that could create a revolution in the combat capability of the IRGC and the army air force and be a surprise response to those who considered it impossible for the armed forces of Iran to achieve a new generation of air weapons.
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