Iran, while unveiling its first hypersonic missile ‘Al-Fatah’, has said that this missile has strengthened the defense system and gained military superiority.
State media published images of the unveiling ceremony, which was attended by President Ibrahim Raisi and senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and a locally-made black missile can be seen.
The missile can travel at Mach 15 (5,145 meters or 16,880 feet per second), has a range of 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) and includes a movable secondary nozzle, state media said.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has chosen the name of the missile.
The domestically-developed hypersonic missile "Fattah", #Iran IRGC’s most recent achievement was unveiled on Tuesday morning (June 6) in the presence of President Ebrahim Raisi. pic.twitter.com/wzwUTRR3ez
— IRNA News Agency (@IrnaEnglish) June 6, 2023
Hypersonic missiles travel at five times the speed of sound or more and are maneuverable, making it difficult to target defense systems and radars.
The US, Russia, China and North Korea are believed to be the only countries to have successfully tested hypersonic missiles, but exact details of the weapons are still scarce.