Iran’s missile crew in the life-and-death confrontation with the US – Israel

As soon as the Iranian ballistic missile launch vehicle left its hiding place to move to the firing position, its cockpit immediately became one of the most dangerous places in the world. If the operating crew cannot cut off the enemy’s reconnaissance systems, the entire battery will be attacked in just a few minutes.

“This is the most dangerous job on Earth today. Their survival time can be measured in days, even hours,” said Farzin Nadimi, an expert on the Iranian missile program at the Washington Institute in the US.

US President Donald Trump last week asserted that 80% of Iran’s missile launch capacity had been wiped out, while the IDF also claimed to have destroyed more than 300 enemy missile launchers since the beginning of the conflict.

However, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) still conducts daily ballistic missile launches targeting Israeli territory, US military bases and infrastructure in many countries in the Middle East.

On March 15, the IRGC announced that it had conducted its 54th raid, using many types of ballistic missiles such as the Khorramshahr series with a two-ton warhead, Kheibar Shekan, Qadr and Emad, as well as the first firing of “strategic missiles using solid fuel Sejjil” since the beginning of the conflict.

Ballistic missiles are currently Tehran’s most powerful retaliation measure, due to their large, high-speed warheads and are much more difficult to intercept than unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and cruise missiles. Therefore, ballistic missile launchers are also something that Iran needs to protect at all costs to maintain its offensive capabilities.

“If the launch pad is destroyed, the rocket will become useless,” said Mauro Gilli, a professor at Hertie School university in Germany.

Life and death confrontation

Fully aware of this, the US and Israel have focused on hunting down Iranian ballistic missile launchers since launching the campaign on February 28. For the Iranian operations crew, nearly two weeks of conflict was a period in which they continuously experienced life-and-death confrontation, when every mistake meant death.

“These operations teams are under great mental pressure. Iran’s entire combat capability depends on them,” said expert Nadimi.

Ballistic missile operators are among the most ideologically loyal in the IRGC ranks. They are stationed at bases hidden in the mountains, called “rocket cities” by Iran, where there is a large network of tunnels deep into the ground.

“These facilities are located under tens of meters of hard rock. The people in there are very safe,” said Uzi Rubin, former director of the Israeli missile defense program.

Sam Lair, senior expert at the James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies (CNS) in the US, said that the Iranian missile crew continuously experienced two opposing psychological states, including a long period of boring waiting inside the cave and a moment of extreme tension when receiving the order to leave the hiding place to deploy the launch pad.

The US and Israel claim to have dominated Iranian airspace, allowing reconnaissance UAVs to freely roam and search for enemy missile batteries. “They risk being discovered as soon as they step out of the tunnel,” Lair said.

The launching process is complicated

Before leaving the base, Iranian soldiers need to do some preparations, a process that can last about an hour. The operating crew, said to consist of 5-10 people, will mount the rocket on the launch rack and enter a series of data into the projectile, from target coordinates, meteorological information, positioning to the shape and rotation of the Earth.

Fabian Hoffmann, a missile technology expert at Oslo University in Norway, said Iranian soldiers often upload data via cables. “No one wants to do it in the open, because every minute they are exposed, the possibility of being attacked by the US or Israel increases exponentially,” he said.

The Iranian crew is trained to deploy the launcher and fire as quickly as possible. This process takes at least 10 minutes if it takes place at a launch site that has been prepared and practiced in advance. The ideal launch site should have stable ground and allow the launcher to point directly at the target once in position.

However, the current situation forces Iranian missile crews to deploy launchers in field battlefields, as well as empty fields or roadsides. This causes the pre-launch preparation process to last up to 30 minutes, due to the additional time required to stabilize the platform with hydraulic outriggers and additional calculations.

“In the worst case, the operator has to use manual methods to calculate target coordinates instead of relying on modern electronic systems,” said Dr. Markus Schiller, an aerospace expert specializing in teaching missiles at the German Armed Forces University in Munich.

The crew must also quickly recalculate important coordinates when moving, if the planned launch point is determined to be no longer safe enough. Satellite navigation systems are being jammed across Iran, so soldiers need to be equipped with detailed maps.

“They can locate by observing the stars or using a sextant,” Schiller said.

In the US, artillery officers are still trained to use positioning tools based on the position of stars, because this is a method that cannot be jammed.

Danger surrounds after firing

When completing deployment and moving to a safe location, Iranian soldiers will press the fire button to launch the missile after about 15-20 seconds.

This is also the time when the crew’s location will definitely be revealed, because reconnaissance systems can quickly detect the missile increasing altitude, as well as the heat signal emitted at the launch site. The coordinates will quickly be transferred to armed UAVs or fighters operating in Iranian airspace, as well as missile operations teams at bases with US forces in the Middle East.

That forced the Iranian missile crew to quickly recover the launch pad and evacuate the battlefield to avoid the risk of being attacked.

To protect its missile force, Iran is dispersing launchers throughout the countryside and hiding them inside unpredictable areas.

Expert Nadimi said the Iranian missile crew is trained to have a high level of independent combat capability. In case there is no specialized equipment to mount the missile on the launch pad, they can requisition a civilian crane to perform the task.

According to closed meetings between defense officials and the US Congress last week, Iran may have up to 50% of its missile inventory and launchers hidden in underground bunkers. However, Western experts believe that Iran’s current tactics are only effective to a certain extent. The crew still needs to be resupplied by truck, and their transportation makes their positions vulnerable.

“Iran is likely to have to rely more on light, easy-to-conceal and deploy weapons such as cruise missiles and suicide UAVs. However, they cannot win with UAVs alone,” he said.