Russia secretly aiding Iran in development of supersonic cruise missile technology - report

Jerusalem Post/Middle East/Iran NewsThe program, codenamed C430L, began in 2023 and was arranged by Russia's state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, in coordination with the US-sanctioned NPO Mashinostroyenia.Follow us on Google A new surface-to-surface ballistic missile called Khaibar with a range of 2,000 km, unveiled by Iran, is seen in Tehran, Iran, May 25, 2023(photo credit: WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 08:11Updated: SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 08:46Russia has been secretly helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles, London-based outlet The Financial Times reported on Wednesday morning, which experts say would likely have been intended for anti-ship and land attacks.The program, codenamed C430L, began in 2023 and was arranged by Russia's state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, in coordination with the US-sanctioned NPO Mashinostroyenia, FT reported.According to FT, Russian arms export officials and senior NPO Mashinostroyenia engineers traveled to Iran repeatedly in 2023.Among the engineers who conducted these trips were Alexander Dergachev, chief designer for sea-launched missiles and cruise missile complexes; Alexander Chebakov, head of NPO Mashinostroyenia’s design department for air-breathing propulsion units and a specialist in supersonic ramjet propulsion for cruise missiles; and Yuri Prokhorchuk, head of the aerodynamics and ballistics department. FT also learned that Vladislav Kuzmichev, head of Rosoboronexport’s department of defense technologies and space, accompanied the delegation on its third trip to Iran, and later negotiated the C430L contract with Iran.Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (L) attend a documents signing ceremony in Moscow, Russia; illustrative; January 17, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool)By 2025, NPO Mashinostroyenia had received various Iranian technical materials, which Russian engineers analyzed and responded to with various questions.In correspondence seen by FT from April 2025, Rosoboronexport proposed sending a delegation of Russian specialists to Iran and asked Tehran to answer the engineers' questions before the trip. “People often think about technology transfers as being solely about sending blueprints, parts, or entire missiles," Fabian Hinz, an Iranian missiles expert and senior analyst with Conflict Armament Research, a UK-based weapons-tracing organization, told FT, "but getting a 60-year-old engineer to fly over and problem-solve, using their experience, is hugely valuable.”Iranian president thanks Putin for support against United StatesOn Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for Moscow's position on the war in Iran and resulting sanctions, and said that together, Moscow and Tehran can resist what he called US "unilateralism."Putin told Pezeshkian at a meeting in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek that Moscow stood in solidarity with the Iranian people in the fight for their interests.Putin also said that Russia and Iran will maintain their economic and trade relationship despite the current military and political environment.Reuters contributed to this report.Follow us on Google