- By Shubham Bajpai
- Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:09 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
- Russia secretly helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles.
- C430L program targets US warships in Middle East.
- New missiles faster, harder to intercept with ramjet tech.
Russia is secretly helping Iran to develop a new generation of supersonic cruise missiles, capable enough to destroy US aircraft carriers and warships in the Middle East.
According to a report by The Financial Times, the covert programme has been codenamed C430L. Started in 2023, the programme aims to transfer technology to Iran to help it develop a cruise missile that could travel at a speed of up to five times the speed of sound (between Mach 1 and Mach 5).
Notably, Tehran has been trying to develop ramjet propulsion technology for several years. The technology ends the need for a turbine or compressor by using the supersonic forward motion to compress the incoming air.
The system would make Tehran's cruise missiles faster and harder-to-intercept, thereby providing Western air defence less time to intercept and respond to any incoming attack.
The report suggests that the scale of technology transfer would require approval from the top leadership in the Russian government.
Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iranian missiles and senior analyst with Conflict Armament Research, a UK-based weapons-tracing organisation, told The Financial Times, "This is the transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology from Russia that the Iranians have wanted to acquire for decades."
The project seems to be an outcome of a wider military partnership between the two countries as Iran has extensively supported Moscow's drone programme since the war started in Ukraine.
The Financial Times reportedly reviewed the leaked document, which suggested preparations for the C430L deal were already underway before the two countries signed a contract in November 2023, just weeks after the October 7 attacks on Israel.
"For the Iranians, this would give them a qualitatively new strategic weapon system that could threaten US Navy vessels," Jim Lamson, a former Iran-focused military analyst with the CIA, was quoted by the publication.
Hormuz tensions rise again
Meanwhile, the Middle East is boiling again after a lull. Since Sunday, the US and Iran have been exchanging fresh strikes.
The Strait of Hormuz has become the flashpoint between the two countries as it has remained effectively closed for over six months. Days after making a geopolitical overreach by portraying the narrow waterway as US territory, American President Donald Trump has now floated an idea of renaming it after himself.
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, the US President said, "Now that we have it under USA control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be 'hotter' than ever before!"
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