Iran has taken a cue from its arch nemesis Israel, and deployed its new advanced air defense missile system ‘Zoubin’. Built indigenously, the ‘Zoubin’ system is capable of 360-degree interception, akin to Israel’s famed ‘Iron Dome’ air defense system system.
Amidst the looming threat of an all-out war with Israel, Iran has taken a cue from its arch nemesis and deployed its new advanced air defense missile system ‘Zoubin’. Built indigenously, the ‘Zoubin’ system is capable of 360-degree interception, akin to Israel’s famed ‘Iron Dome’ air defense system system.…CONTINUE READING
What is Iran’s Zoubin air defense missile system?
The ‘Zoubin’ is one of the most advanced domestically developed air defense technologies showcased by Iran. Dubbed the ‘Iranian Iron Dome’, the ‘Zoubin’, akin to its Israeli counterpart, is capable of 360-degree interception, at least on paper. The missile defence system is designed to counter a wide array of low-altitude aerial threats, including short-range cruise missiles and rockets, drones, artillery shells, military choppers, and even low-flying fighter jets.
Iran has reportedly deployed Zoubin around its capital Tehran and other key strategic areas following the October 26 Israeli airstrikes, which purportedly destroyed Iran’s Shahroud Space Center- a military spaceport in rural Semnan, which housed hypersonic missiles and solid fuel.
How capable is Zoubin?
According to media reports, the Zoubin air defense missile system, has been designed with tactical mobility in mind, and is mounted on a 6×6 truck chassis, which allows swift repositioning during real-time threats and provides broad coverage and adaptability.
The Iranian Iron Dome, as it has been dubbed, is capable of 360-degree interception, akin to the Israeli Iron Dome, and is equipped with a radar capable of detecting up to 100 targets simultaneously within a 30 km radius. As per technical data published by the Iranian defense industry, the system is capable of engaging and neutralizing up to a 100 aerial threats within a 20 km range.
According to the data, each individual Zoubin unit is equipped with a vertical-launch canister holding up to eight interceptor missiles, making it very difficult for the opponent to achieve saturation. The system is capable of thwarting coordinated aerial attacks and its designed to defend against a variety of threats, including drones and loitering munitions, which are often used for reconnaissance and attack.
Zoubin vs Iron Dome
The Zoubin system is clearly designed along the lines of Israel’s Iron Dome system, but is the Iranian-made system “better” or even on-par in capabilities with its Israeli counterpart?.
The simple answer to this question is -nobody knows, because even though Zoubin may look stronger on paper, the fact is that it is yet to be tested in a real-time threat scenario, unlike Israel’s Iron Dome, which is battle-tested and has showcased a high-level of success in intercepting short-range aerial threats.
Iran’s Zoubin is capable of multi-target tracking, which allows it to issue a rapid response to swarming attacks, and makes it highly difficult to achieve saturation. It can also take down precision cruise missiles, has an advanced radar, and is equipped with vertical-launch missiles, designed to detect and intercept these missiles before they reach their targets.
The Zoubin system can also effectively target helicopter and low-flying fighter jets, which try to evade radar by flying at low altitudes, filling a vital gap in the conventional long-range air defense systems.
Additionally, the Zoubin is also capable of intercepting artillery shells and long-range ammunition within its engagement radius, making it a solid defense system to protect fortified or urban areas from precision-guided artillery and other projectiles which may be fired by the enemy in close-range aerial attacks.
Israel attack on Iran
On October 26, in its first open strike against Iran, Israel launched a series of pre-dawn airstrikes on Iran in retaliation for the barrage of missile strikes the Islamic Republic had fired on the Jewish nation on October 1. The ‘precision strikes’ on Iranian military targets, was the first time Israeli military has openly attacked Iran.
