Iran unveils multiple ballistic missile launcher

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corp (IRGC) unveiled a system for increasing the rate of fire from its underground ballistic missile launching facilities on 4 November.

The IRGC said its commander, Major General Hossein Salami, had attended the unveiling of what he described as an “simultaneous or consecutive launch capability” for ballistic missiles in an underground base at an undisclosed location. “Such launches will bring us a lot of added value, both operationally and tactically,” Maj Gen Salami added.

A video was released showing ballistic missiles being brought into an underground chamber on small vehicles, with a gantry crane then loading them on to a static erector similar to the ones carried by mobile launchers. The erector then loaded the missiles upright on to a rail vehicle that was moved along after each missile was put in place.

The rail vehicle had slots for five missiles, each with the equivalent of the launch pad carried by mobile launchers. The missiles were held in place by supporting mechanisms that extend from the barriers between the slots and the rail vehicle appeared to have hydraulic stabilisers that can be lowered for launch.