According to an investigation by the British publication, a secret program initiated in 2023 under the code name C430L involved highly qualified Russian rocket specialists to assist Iran in creating a new type of weaponry. This weapon is capable of posing a threat to US aircraft carriers and other military vessels in the Middle East.
According to FT, which accessed Russian correspondence, travel records, and analysis of military patents, this program continued during the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran at the end of February.
The main goal of the C430L program is to support Iran in developing a ramjet engine system. This engine allows the cruise missile to maintain a speed many times greater than the speed of sound.
Rocket and military experts assert that this technology is likely intended for anti-ship cruise missiles and ground attack missiles. Fabian Hinz, a specialist in Iranian missiles and senior analyst at Conflict Armament Research, told FT that this represents the transfer of extremely sensitive and strategic military technology from Russia, which Iranians have desired for decades.
He also noted that such a program required approval at the highest levels in Russia. Hypersonic cruise missiles combine high speed with the ability to fly at low altitudes, which reduces the time available for complex air and missile defense systems to detect and intercept them.
This is particularly relevant for Iran in the Persian Gulf, where the US and its regional allies operate advanced ground and maritime defense systems. Although Iran has built and tested a ramjet system in flight, there is no evidence that a hypersonic cruise missile assisted by Russia has been deployed.
Jim Lamson, a former CIA military analyst specializing in Iran and currently working at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, informed FT that this will provide Iranians with a qualitatively new strategic weapons system capable of threatening US Navy ships. The revealed correspondence shows that negotiations on the program continued until the summer.
This is part of increasingly close strategic military relations between Russia and Iran. Tehran previously supplied Moscow with Shahed strike drones, which became an important part of Russia's war in Ukraine, helping Moscow establish its own production within Russia. Ukrainian and Western authorities accuse Russia of assisting Iran in combat during the war with the US and Israel, including satellite imagery, drone support, and weapon components.