Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – Iran’s weekend test launch of a rocket that is meant to carry a research satellite into orbit represents a “quantum-leap” in Iranian technological capabilities and shows that the U.S. is justified in its desire to put a defensive missile shield in Europe, an expert said here on Monday.
Iranian television reported on Saturday that Iran had successfully test launched a rocket that it wants to use to carry a research satellite into orbit. Images of the nighttime launch of the two-stage Safir or Ambassador rocket were broadcast on Iranian state television.
Experts agreed that the test-launch was not of itself threatening but signaled that Iran was making headway in technical advances in its missile program.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said that the launch was worrying. Such rockets could be used as ballistic missiles, he said.
“The source of concern is not the rocket [and] not the satellite but the technology and the capability,” said Uzi Rubin, the former head of Israel’s Arrow (anti-ballistic) Missile Program.
The two-stage rocket was “very innovative,” Rubin told CNSNews.com.
A two-stage rocket launch is key for long ranges. The staged rocket technology is complicated, but once the art of it has been mastered it can be used to reach any range, Rubin said.
Iran has already announced that it has successfully test-launched the Shahab-3 ballistic missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles), which would put all of Israel and some U.S. regional interests within range.
It is not clear how developed Iran’s space program is. Iran says it wants to put a number of its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters, improve telecommunications, and for its security reasons, the Associated Press reported.
Iran test launched another rocket in February associated with its satellite program, which Washington called “just another troubling development,” and had promised to actually launch its satellite this summer.
Some experts said it’s not clear if the Iranian test over the weekend actually succeeded or failed because the Iranians seemed to change their story after the launch, but Rubin said that is not important.
He noted that in December 1957, the first rocket-launching attempt of the U.S. exploded on the launch pad. Twelve years later, the U.S. landed a man on the moon.
The new launch represents a “quantum leap in capability” for the Iranians, Rubin said.
Rubin said that the launch should alert the Europeans that Iran could indeed constitute a threat to Europe in the future. That is why the Americans are preparing a missile shield in Europe, he said. The Americans “stand exonerated.”
The Iranian-test launch comes at a time of growing tensions between Moscow and Washington over the defensive missile shield that the U.S. wants to base in Europe.
Two former Soviet allies agreed recently to be part of the system. Poland agreed last week to allow the U.S. to position missile interceptors on its territory. The Czech Republic agreed last month to host a radar station that will be part of the missile defense system.
In related news, Iran also announced on Sunday that it had extended the range of its military aircraft without refueling by more than 1800 miles, but the report on Iranian television did not give details as to which aircraft it was referring and how the range had been extended.
Yiftah Shapir, director of the Military Balance Project at the Institute for National Security Studies, said that the report on the longer-range airplane appeared to be exaggerated for propaganda purposes.
Even if the Iranians are not lying and they have a plane that can fly to Israel without refueling, it is one thing to make the trip in a plane that is stripped down, containing extra fuel tanks and flying at a high altitude, where it uses less fuel, Shapir told CNSNews.com.
It is another thing to have enough fuel to fly at a low altitude, with munitions and loiter over a target for 10 minutes before dropping a bomb, he said.