The Shahab-3 is a medium-range, liquid-fueled, road-mobile ballistic missile. The Shahab-3 marked Iran’s first successful development and acquisition of a medium-range ballistic missile. The induction of the Shahab-3 gave Iran its first capability to threaten targets in Israel. It has a range between about 800 km and 1,000 km depending on warhead mass.¹

Shahab-3 Development

After purchasing a North Korean No-Dong 1 missile in the mid-1990s, Tehran established the infrastructure necessary to assemble a domestic version of the missile, named the Shahab-3.² Iran likely began this development to acquire a long-range missile capable of striking targets in Israel and western Saudi Arabia.³

In 1993, Iran and Pakistan reportedly entered into an agreement with North Korea to buy missiles and/or share the technology.⁴ While Iran initially planned to purchase and manufacture 150 No-Dong missiles, international pressure forced North Korea to abandon the arrangement.⁵ In 1997, engine testing on the Shahab-3 began in Iran, presumably with a small number of No-Dong missiles or missile components from North Korea.⁶ Iran likely declared the original Shahab-3 missile operational sometime in 2003.⁷

Iranian officials have disputed the missile’s North Korean origin, however, with former Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani asserting that “The Shahab-3 missile is entirely Iranian and has been designed by the domestic specialists.”⁸ Shahab-3 development is reportedly led by the Iranian Aerospace Industries with participation from Shahid Hemat Industrial Group, Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, and Shahid Karimi Industrial Group.⁹ Pakistan has also employed No-Dong technology to build its Hatf-5 “Ghauri” MRBM.¹⁰

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran may have explored various fuzing, arming, and firing systems to make the Shahab-3 more capable of reliably delivering a nuclear warhead in the early 2000s.¹¹

Specifications

Assessments of the Shahab-3’s capabilities are largely based upon speculation, as Iran is known to exaggerate its missiles’ performance, and declare untested technologies as operational. To further complicate capability assessments, Iran has continuously improved upon the Shahab-3 since its deployment in 2003, and it is frequently unclear which versions of the Shahab-3 are referred to by Iranian officials and Western intelligence reports.

Depending on the Shahab-3 variant, the missile’s length is between 16.58 m and 17 m.¹² Contrasting reports place the range between 800 and 2,000 km with payloads varying between 760 and 1,200 kg.¹³ The range is likely about 1,300 km, but varies widely depending upon the weight of the payload. Heavier payloads, like those carrying first-generation nuclear warheads, would likely have a much shorter range than a smaller unitary high-explosive warhead. Given the Shahab-3’s payload capacity, it would likely be capable of delivering nuclear warheads. The total launch weight is approximately 17,410 kg to 18,300 kg.¹⁴

The Shahab-3 uses an engine that is similar to, but larger than that of the Scud missiles. The increased size allows for a significantly longer range without making the missile too large for Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) basing. While using a single-stage liquid propellant engine, the Shahab-3 employs a separating reentry vehicle. Analysts note that Iran’s ability to build a single-stage missile with a separating reentry vehicle is a significant intermediate step between its short-range, low payload missiles and longer-range, multi-stage missiles capable of carrying heavier payloads.

The Shahab-3 employs the basic inertial navigation system guidance used in the ‘Scud’ missiles, giving the missile an accuracy of about 2,500 m CEP.¹⁵ These original Shahab-3 missiles are primarily effective against large, soft targets (like cities). However, Iran has potentially employed Chinese guidance technology on later variants to significantly improve strike accuracy.¹⁶

Service History

Iran has conducted at least 17 Shahab-3 flight tests between July 1998 and August 2019.¹⁷ Following initial ground testing in 1997, the Shahab-3 was first flight tested in July 1998.¹⁸ The test appears to have been largely unsuccessful as the missile exploded prior to reaching any target.¹⁹ Iran conducted two successful Shahab-3 tests in February and July 2000.²⁰ A fourth test, supposedly of a satellite-launch variant, was unsuccessfully launched in September 2000.²¹ A fifth test in January 2002 failed after the missile caught fire during the pre-launch fueling sequence, though a sixth test in May 2002 was successful.²² A seventh flight test in July 2002 failed, followed by a successful test in September 2002.²³ Iran conducted its ninth and “final” Shahab-3 test in July 2003, which successfully flew over 1,300 km.²⁴

Since July 2003, Iran announced that the missile is ready for service.²⁵ Subsequent tests have primarily been held for Shahab-3 variants.

As of June 2017, Iran has deployed fewer than 50 Shahab-3 missile launchers.²⁶ As with most of Iran’s strategic missile systems, the Shahab-3 is operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and not by Iran’s conventional army (‘Artesh’).²⁷