Into the fifth week of the ongoing war in West Asia, Iran’s missile capabilities have caught the US and its allies off guard through a rapid shift towards high-precision guidance, the use of solid-fuel technology for quick-strike readiness, and massive, coordinated saturation attacks that depleted regional defense systems.
Despite the significant US-Israeli airstrikes in the last few weeks, Iran demonstrated the ability to launch over a thousand drones and missiles, shifting from “weapons of terror” to systems capable of targeting infrastructure with high accuracy.ย
Moreover, Iran’s missile strategy also caught the US and its allies off guard through a combination ofย technological shifts,ย asymmetric tactics, andย unexpected range expansions. Despite heavy initial strikes by US and Israeli forces, Iran’s ability to sustain a high-volume, precision-guided campaign fundamentally challenged established Western defense assumptions.ย
Switch to BeiDou Navigation:
From the beginning of the war with US and Israel, Iran abandoned GPS, which is vulnerable to jamming, and switched to BeiDou-3 system which enabled 98% navigation reliability under electronic warfare conditions, giving their missiles an accuracy of less than 5โ10 meters.
Solid-fuel technology:
Iran also shifted focus to solid-propellant missiles (like the Kheibar Shekan and Haj Qasem) over liquid-fueled designs which allow for faster preparation and launching, reducing the warning time for US allies.
Iran creates defences crisis:ย
Iran also demonstrated the ability to launch waves of hundreds of missiles and drones, creating a “defence crisis” by depleting the interceptor missile stockpiles of Gulf nations.
Iran used hypersonic and advanced missiles:
Iran also used advanced systems such as the Fattah-2, raised fears about bypassing modern air defense systems.
Targeting strategic infrastructure in Gulf:ย
Instead of only targeting open areas, Iranian missiles showed the capacity to strike specific buildings, airbases, and industrial sitesโsuch as aluminum plants and oil facilitiesโin Gulf states.
Blocking Strait of Hormuz:
Apart from the long-range ballistic missiles, Iran used drones and sea mines to block the Strait of Hormuz, hitting tankers deep inside the Persian Gulf and challenging US naval security guarantees.ย