Saegheh

The Saegheh ("Lightning" or "Thunder" in Persian) (also spelled Saegre, Saeghe, Saeqeh, etc.) is any of at least eight completely separate Iranian weapons systems: a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) warhead, an anti-tank guided missile family, a surface-to-surface rocket, a target drone family, an air-to-air missile, a claimed stealth unmanned aerial vehicle, a fighter jet, and an anti-ship cruise missile.

For the shoulder-launched anti-tank rocket, see Saegheh (rocket). For the Iranian fighter aircraft, see HESA Saeqeh. For the stealth UCAV, see Saegheh (UAV).
The Saeghe 1 (cutaway, front) and a Saeghe 2 (rear)

History

The first system, the Saeghe 1, is an Iranian reverse-engineered clone of the American M47 Dragon wire-guided SACLOS ATGM, introduced in 2001.[1][2] It seems to have entered production in 2002.[3] Iran later introduced the Saeghe 2, a more advanced variant with a tandem-warhead to defeat explosive reactive armor,[4] and the Saeghe-4, with a thermobaric warhead.[5] The Saeghe-1 weights 6.1 kilograms (13 lb) and can penetrate armor up to 500 millimetres (20 in). The 7.4-kilogram (16 lb) Saeghe 2 missile has a tandem warhead and can penetrate up to 760 millimetres (30 in) of armor.[4] The Saeghe 1 and Saeghe 2 ATGMs have a range of 50 to 1,000 metres (160 to 3,280 ft).[4]

Despite being essentially obsolete, Saegheh anti-tank guided missiles have been exported to Syria, Hezbollah,[6] and Shia militias in Iraq. The Saeghe 1 and Saeghe 2 were in production and service as of 2011, though they were not widely deployed.[7] The Saeghe ATGM is extremely hard to aim and in Iranian service it appears to be limited to IRGC and rapid response forces.[8]

In 2006, Iran tested a completely unrelated short-range surface-to-surface missile[9] that is also named Saegheh. It has a range of 80 to 250 kilometres (50 to 155 mi).[9]

Other Saegheh name designations

Under the Saegheh name, Iran has also built a variant warhead for RPG-7 style rocket launchers. Iran also uses the Saeghe name for a target drone[10] (which comes in two variants: Saeghe 1 and Saeghe 2[11]) and an air-to-air missile.[12]

The semi-official Tasnim news agency of Iran reported in September 2016 that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, drone) named Saegheh similar to the US RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone had been built. It was said to be able to carry four precision-guided bombs; range was not stated. An RQ-170 had been captured by Iran in 2011.[13]

The Saegheh name is further reused for the HESA Saeqeh, a low production jet fighter, and for the Saeghe anti-ship cruise missile.[14]

References
  1. People's Daily Online Iran Successfully Test-fires Anti-Armor Missile
  2. Pavland News Iran test-fires anti-armor missile - July 31, 2001
  3. "Middle East Newsline -". www.menewsline.com. Archived from the original on 8 May 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  4. "10 نوع موشک ضدزره ایران از توفان تا دهلاویه + عکس". 14 July 2012.
  5. "Иранские ПТУР Saeghe 2 и Saeghe 4 в Ираке". 28 December 2017.
  6. "Common ATGMs in the Syrian Civil War". Medium. 17 August 2016. Archived from the original on 26 March 2018.
  7. Galen Wright, Iranian Military Capability 2011 - Ground Forces - March 15th 2011
  8. Lyamin, Yuri (5 October 2012). "Легкое противотанковое вооружение Ирана. Часть 1" (in Russian).
  9. China View Iran tests short-range missile
  10. "NTI: Country Overviews: Iran: Missile Chronology". www.nti.org. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  11. http://www.mindexcenter.ir/product/saeghe-2-aerial-target-system
  12. "Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) / Saeqeh-80 / Azarakhsh-2". Global Security.
  13. "Iran builds attack drone similar to captured US model, local media say". The Guardian. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  14. "Saeqeh / Ahoya / AHWA - HY-2 C201 Silkworm/Seersucker".
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