Iran unveils underground missile base amid Israeli tensions
Iran has unveiled the existence of another underground missile base, triggered by the threat from Israel, leading Tehran to conceal its most valuable weapons deep underground.
The Revolutionary Guard Corps, an alternative arm of the Iranian Armed Forces, revealed the new Iranian missile base. The occasion for showcasing the new underground shelter was an inspection by the Corps' commander, General Hossein Salami, who visited the rocket depot accompanied by other officers.
Video footage from this event was made public on the internet, offering a glimpse into the "missile city," with long corridors filled with rocket launchers.
The depot is reportedly located as far as 500 metres underground to effectively safeguard the equipment from destruction attempts, even by bombs designed to destroy underground fortifications.
Operation Days of Atonement
The construction of such facilities appears to be Iran's only chance to preserve its missile capability. The attack on Israel using drones and ballistic missiles prompted a decisive response from Jerusalem in the form of the Days of Atonement operation, which commenced on 26th October 2024.
The airstrikes conducted at that time demonstrated the superiority of Western weaponry—such as F-35I aircraft, F-16I Sufa, and F-15C/D Eagle—over the air defence systems developed in the USSR and Russia, which form the backbone of Iranian air defence.
Collapse of Iran's Air Defence
The F-35 aircraft operated over Iran with complete freedom, destroying, among other things, Iranian S-300PMU-2 missile launchers. According to available sources, all four batteries of this system owned by Iran were hit. If capabilities in this area have not been rebuilt, it signifies the elimination of the upper tier of Iran's air defence.
An alternative to the imported anti-aircraft systems is the Bavar-373 system, developed by Iran and presented as comparable to the S-300. However, its capabilities have yet to be independently confirmed.
