21 to achieve the second. Unlike the previous True Promise operations, the Iranians did not disclose the types of missiles they used this time. There are four families of Iranian ballistic missiles with ranges sufficient to reach Israel (that is, more than 1,200 km). They are: A. Single-stage liquid propellant legacies of the North Korean No Dong theater ballistic missile that Iran purchased in the 1990s. Initially called “Shahab 3” by Iran, its extended range version is dubbed “Ghader F”. Its precision version, which Iran claims has pinpoint precision, is called “Emad”. B. A two-stage, solid propellant, indigenousdesigned missile called “Sejil”. This missile has the same dimensions as its above-mentioned liquid propellant siblings; it can therefore use the same launchers. C. Single-stage solid propellant missiles stemming from Iran’s first indigenous-developed 250 km precision guided rocket, the “Fatah 110”. Over the years, Iran increased the size of this design and extended its range to 1,400 Km. There are several variants of this design in Iranian service, variously dubbed “Khaibar Shekan”, “Haj Kassim” and other names. One of the newest versions of this family, the “Fatah 1”, is claimed to have hypersonic glide capability. All missiles of this family feature a slanted take-off from a zero-length launcher beam (in contrast to “classical” ballistic missiles, which take off vertically). D. Single-stage storable liquid propellant legacy of the North Korean Musudan/HS 10 missile, also purchased in the 1990s. The North Koreans were unable to make this design work and finally abandoned it. The Iranians managed to turn it into a workable missile, and it is now in service under the appellation “Khoramshar”. This is a considerably heavier missile than those of the Shahab 3 family, and it has a nominal range of 4,000 Km. To stick to their obligation not to exceed a range of 2,000 km, the Iranians fitted it with an extra-heavy warhead, thereby halving its range. While Iran’s missile offensive was patterned according to the long-declared strategy of retaliation by massive salvos of ballistic missiles and UAVs, Israel’s defensive strategy relied not only on its multi-layer missile defense shield but also on a preemptive air offensive against Iran’s missile launchers All Iran’s ballistic missiles, of whatever family, are deployed on and launched from mobile launchers. They are stored in peacetime inside huge, bombproof caverns excavated under Iran’s mountains. To fire the missiles, a launcher loaded with fully fueled missiles leaves the caverns and deploys some distance away from it. Several cavern systems exist to minimize the risk of being blocked in by enemy action against the exits.
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