The mutual threats between Iran and the United States/Israel in responding to the war in Gaza could spill over into open conflict. Apart from the peaceful path that continues to be sought to reduce the humanitarian disaster in Palestine, the Iranian military also held war games with the code Eghtedar (Authority) 1402, which took place in the Nasrabad district, Isfahan province.
What is interesting is that in this exercise the Haydar (Heidar) air-to-surface missile was successfully tested.
Despite the conflict with the US, regarding attack helicopters, the Iranian military is uniquely still 'loyal' in using US-made helicopters, which were imported when the Iranian Shah Reza Pahlavi was in power.
Quoted from tehrantimes.com (29/10/2023), a Bell 214 attack helicopter belonging to the Iranian Army, successfully launched a Haydar air-to-surface missile, which incidentally is domestically produced.
The Bell 214 helicopter fired the missile last Saturday, which was the second day of Eghtedar (Authority) 1402's extensive training exercise. The Haydar missile can hit a perfectly designated target from a distance of 30 km, and completely destroy the target.
The Eghtedar 1402 military exercise by the Iranian Army was carried out with the aim of evaluating the level of training and reviewing weak and strong points, which could ultimately develop and improve defense and combat power in the face of upcoming threats,
According to reports, the Haydar missile is equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS), which gives the pilot complete control over the missile and allows it to fly towards the target well.
The Haydar missile is said to be 3.83 meters long and weighs around 40 kg. Within tens of kilometers, this air-to-ground missile can destroy fixed and moving targets with a 20 kg warhead payload. Iran claims that enemy concrete bunkers and armored targets will be easily destroyed by Haydar missiles.
Haydar (Heidar) is an Iranian air-to-ground missile launched on April 25 2019. Apart from being launched from a Bell-214 helicopter, Haydar is also installed as a weapon on the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter.
Haydar was designed and built by the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran) and the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation. This missile can be used against armored targets. The Haydar can penetrate its target to a depth of one meter and is equipped with a variety of search systems, allowing its use in a variety of weather conditions.