Iran is increasingly relying on its Kheibar Shekan ballistic missile in its regional attacks, all the while adapting and enhancing its capabilities to better evade air defenses, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The Kheibar Shekan, or Kheibar-buster, is named after a Jewish castle overrun by Muslim warriors in the early days of Islam.

It has a range of 1,450 kilometers (900 miles), making it fully capable of reaching Gulf nations and Israel. Its ability to be quickly deployed and launched has helped the Iranians avoid air strikes during the war by the Israeli and US air forces as they hunted for and eliminated launch sites.

The report said Iranian forces have been using the missile in recent attacks on US assets in the region in recent weeks, as fighting restarted, often varying its trajectory, speed, and maneuvering to complicate interception efforts. Some models of the missile are able to perform last-minute maneuvers in the final stage of flight, helping them avoid interceptors.

A US official speaking to the paper said most Kheibar Shekan missiles launched at the region have been successfully shot down, but some have been able to punch through defenses using such advanced methods, indicating the Iranians are studying interceptions and learning how to better circumvent them.

Missile expert Fabian Hinz told The Journal that Tehran “has seen what types of maneuvers are the most effective ones for overcoming missile defense. Every single combat........

© The Times of Israel