Iran tests new radar-evading missile

A soldier carries ammunition on a naval ship during the Velayat-90 war game on Sea of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran December 31, 2011. Iran test-fired a new medium-range missile, designed to evade radars, on Sunday during the last days of its naval drill in the Gulf, the official IRNA news agency quoted a military official as saying. (REUTERS/Fars News/Hamed Jafarnejad - IRAN)

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

MORE: engrish • iran • military • Technology • war

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http://twitter.com/bigbadchang Chang Terhune

These guys really know how to fuck up a new year, huh?
gtrjnky

Um, ??, why is the sign in Anglais?
- Bloke_IN_Italy
  
  Scary big boss maybe does must speak Engrish?!
  - awjt
    
    It’s because Ahmedinejaid grew up in Kentucky.
- knappa
  
  Read the caption. That is the US Navy.
  - jerwin
    
    “Turret may be turn without warning?” Perhaps Annapolis needs to stop focusing so much on Engineering, and return to the Liberal Arts.
  - WhyBother
    
    No. That’s the Iranian Navy. The Navy with the Iranian naval ships. With the Iranian soldier. Carrying the Iranian missiles. Which were tested during the Iranian war games. Which don’t involve the U.S., because they don’t get along with Iran. Iran.
Judicio Genesis

Beware. The propaganda lead-up to war with Iran is underway. Do not be deceived. This is 1991 and 2003 all over again…
- http://obsidian.kokolis.net Chloramphenicol
  
  I truly and sincerely hope you’re wrong. You’re probably correct, but I really hope you’re not…
- Mantissa128
  
  Indeed. Next we’ll be hearing “our very way of life” is threatened.
  
  Resist!
ahwoo

Pretty small ammo in that shot. And why is the warning sign in Eangalisshi ?
- headcode
  
  “Turret may be turn without warning”
  
  Well, you can call that English if you like.
- ahwoo
  
  Maybe turret turn, maybe turret not…
Shinkuhadoken

DANGER

War may
be start
without warning
Work_Watch_Buy_Repeat

The USA sold Iran much of its military equipment prior to the 1979 revolution. In countries that receive US arms, English is often the language used for technical instructions and placards.

One of the stranger experiences of my life was seeing English-language instruction placards inside a captured Iraqi tank.
- cservant
  
  Even on Russian equipment, there are English(Engrish?) instructions or labels. It’s not that surprising.
- http://twitter.com/CryoAnon CryoAnon
  
  To ad to that, the leader before the 1979 revolution was ‘the Shah of Iran’ who was put in to power after the CIA removed the democratically elected president.
dunkyboy

What?! How DARE those godless iranians test a radar evading missile!! SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!!!! Honey, where did I put my radar evading missiles? I’ve just found a legitimate target…
jacklaughing

I hope this missile test goes better for them than their last one: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/in-an-iranian-image-a-missile-too-many/

Breaking news: Iran also has a bridge for sale.
- atimoshenko
  
  http://f.cl.ly/items/410q0s230Y301c2D2q0X/iran.jpg
AviSolomon

Do not underestimate the Iranian regime. In the Millennium Challenge 2002 wargame Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper (playing the Iranians) sank the US Fleet in the Strait of Hormuz in 5 minutes:
http://www.exile.ru/articles/detail.php?ARTICLE_ID=6779
- jacklaughing
  
  Sure, a big slow moving ship is an easy target, but this isn’t going to get to that point. This is more saber-rattling on both sides. None of the countries directly involved in this can afford to go to war, either politically or economically. Iran is struggling, the US is struggling, the EU is teetering on the brink of dissolving, and this is an election year. The only reason we’re even having this discussion is because Congressional Republicans want to create political hay with which to attack Obama in 2012, because they know the President will not go to war with Iran.
  
  But more importantly, if Iran ever sunk a single US naval vessel, from a small frigate to a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the response would be so devastating and so overwhelming that Iran would take decades to recover. They know that. We know that. This “war” isn’t going to happen.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    None of the countries directly involved in this can afford to go to war, either politically or economically.
    
    Iraq was already in the early stages of a civil war ten minutes after the last US troops left. That’s going to make it hard to justify intervention in Iran.
    - Tynam
      
      Politically and economically, we couldn’t afford to go to war in Iraq either. What we can afford to do doesn’t seem to be as much of a factor as we’d like…
  - templarsmonochromata
    
    The US might have issue with war with Iran, but what if this is a sideshow to get SOME American popular support for when the US’s Ally, Israel, does something particularly brutal to the Palestinians?
    I’m actually not as aware as I should be internationally speaking, but to an outsider, Israel gets (or seems to) American backing to do some Very Bad Things with impunity.
    Theres only one Nuclear Power in the mideast, and its track record has been aggressive and Theistic, which makes some of the world leery. Actually the ‘whole Israel thing’ seems like a bit of a rum issue, to dance around the topic delicately.
    As an outsider, I have sympathy for ‘the little guy’, and at a glance, its Palistine (who are probably as human as the rest of us for flaws, but I’m just telling you how some of us see it).
    
    Consider this; what if this is lead up for Israelian war of aggression, to celebrate 2012? How does that make you feel….?
- http://twitter.com/writebastard Ian Wood
  
  Pretty sure we need to keep an eye on Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper.
  - AviSolomon
    
    You can read more about Van Riper in Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink”.
awjt

Why are those big bullets 7 to a skein?
- Work_Watch_Buy_Repeat
  
  40 mm high-explosive incendiary anti-aircraft rounds. On a 7-round clip for rapid loading.
  - http://twitter.com/zuiquan zuiquan
    
    Bonus points for using “clip” correctly. Seldom seen on the internet or movies or TV or in the really real world.
  - http://profiles.google.com/joshuabardwell Joshua Bardwell
    
    I was just coming here to comment on that. It’s hilarious to me that they’re on a clip just like you’d use for an SKS or whatever.
AncientScot

“Turret may be turn without warning.” Clearly they have an audience in mind.
Perhaps spray painting the goofy sign was faster than PhotoShoping a picture where the rusted old turret actually looks like it moves.
Do you like the ordie burqa or the Summer Camp life vest best?
bkad

It took me several visits to this site to notice the grammar error in the sign. It must be that my brain’s auto-correct feature is pretty good. However, it would seem to be a smart decision on my employer’s part not to pay me to proofread. :-)
Adam Guernsey

There seems to be some confusion here. This was a test of the HMS (Human Missile System), where they launch actual humans at invaders. The stealth capabilities consists of dodging from cloud to cloud hoping to not be noticed (notice the white mask and gloves for camouflage). Unfortunately there seem to be a lack of volunteers for this project as shown in the photo above where the latest test round appears to be trying to blend in behind some too small ammo.
Thebes42

Can’t say that I blame them.

They think we’re going to try bombing them back to the stone age and stealing their oil.
They’re probably right about our intentions.
Most of these wars we’re involved in are against nation’s who have nationalized their petroleum resources.
Hegemony over energy resources is perceived as the key to “The New American Century”

When do we go after Venezuela?
http://guyjames.com/ Guy James

Somewhat depressing to see even BoingBoing jumping on the ‘Iran is a threat’ bandwagon. When are we going to wake up to this manufacturing of bad guys (that in most cases either ‘we’ helped to come to power or are in power directly as a response to the very real threat that ‘we’ represent.)

The money would be better spent developing a 12 step program to help us come off our oil addiction, rather than stealing it from other countries.

We’ve been here before of course: “…Intelligence reports would come out ‘Iraq–incredible weapons…’
How do you know that? “Uh–we looked at the receipt.” ~Bill Hicks
- 96mouchoirs
  
  Sure is, they towed the line this summer during Libya too. :( Perhaps if Bieber performs a steampunk inspired song about it BoingBoing will realize how un-cool the flag waving really is.
http://twitter.com/writebastard Ian Wood

Just wait’ll a Russian-made, Iranian-launched Sunburn puts a ship of the Fifth Fleet at the bottom of the Strait because the sea-RAM anti-ship missile defense system couldn’t quite defend against it.

Then things will get very interesting very quickly.

Or so I’ve heard, anyway.
modusoperandi00

That’s the craziest damn pan flute I ever saw.
Mister44

Just a note – what the guy is holding IS actually a CLIP of (probably) AA rounds.
- AncientScot
  
  Yes. Probably 40 Mike Mike. Maybe 37. Too chunky for Bofors. Their shells taper to a waning-moon crescent. More ergonomic.