Recently, Iranian media reported that the Iranian navy and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have received the "Abu Mahdi" anti-ship cruise missile independently developed and produced by Iran. Iran's Defense Minister said that after the missile is put into service, it will significantly improve the defense capability of Iran's navy and provide a strong guarantee for Iran's national security.

It is reported that "Abu Mahdi" is Iran's first high-precision anti-ship cruise missile that has fully realized localization. Its name comes from former Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi Mohandis, who was killed together with Suleymani, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard "Holy City Brigade", in a US drone attack. From the performance point of view, the "Abu Mahdi" anti-ship cruise missile is equipped with a turbojet engine and advanced electronic systems, which can carry out high-speed sea skimming flight, effectively avoid radar detection, and break through the enemy's electronic interference zone to attack targets. The effective range of the "Abu Mahdi" anti-ship cruise missile is more than 1000 kilometers. The warhead is filled with high explosives, which is highly lethal and can destroy large surface ships. In addition, the missile is also the first cruise missile designed by Iran that uses artificial intelligence technology in the missile flight path and command and control system. After launching, the missile can not only fly according to the predetermined trajectory, but also re plan the flight route according to the battlefield situation to attack the target from different directions.

Previously, the main anti-ship weapon of the Iranian navy was the "Nur" anti-ship cruise missile. The shell uses a semi armor piercing high explosive warhead, which can penetrate the external armor of most ships. The maximum flight speed is Mach 0.9, and the maximum range is 200 kilometers. It can carry out sea skimming and penetration flight at a height of 10 to 20 meters from the sea level. Considering that the US and Europe anti-ship missiles currently have supersonic anti-ship combat capability, compared with this missile, its performance is ordinary and its upgrade potential is limited, Iran has started to develop the "Abu Mahdi" anti-ship cruise missile to make up for its shortcomings.

It is reported that the first batch of 600 "Abu Mahdi" anti-ship cruise missiles delivered to the Iranian army will be preferentially deployed along the Strait of Hormuz to deal with the threat of foreign ships. Iran is eager to develop and deploy the "Abu Mahdi" anti-ship cruise missile, with the main purpose of safeguarding territorial sovereignty and enhancing regional voice. However, the actual performance of the "Abu Mahdi" anti-ship cruise missile has not yet been tested in actual combat, and its future performance remains to be observed. (Cao Yabo and Jia Hao)

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