Iran has developed AD-08 Majid new short-range air defense missile system
According to pictures and videos published on Internet, the Defense industry of Iran has developed a new short-range air defense missile system called AD-08 Majid. The new missile system was tested during the military exercise “Defenders of Velayat Skies 1400”, which was jointly conducted by the Iranian army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in October 2021.
According to Iranian military sources, the AD-08 Majid is a short-range and low-altitude air defense missile system fully developed by the Iranian defense industry. The missile system is designed to intercept and destroy UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Systems), cruise missiles, helicopters, and low-altitude aerial targets. The missile launcher station of the AD-08 Majid is mounted on the Iranian-made Aras-2 4×4 tactical vehicle.
The ARAS-2 is an Iranian-made 4×4 tactical vehicle that was developed based on the F-4. 5 Toyota Land Cruiser chassis. The vehicle was unveiled in 2019 in the presence of the then Minister of Defense Brigadier General Amir Hatami and the Commander of Army Ground Force Brigadier General Kiumars Heidari. The vehicle is powered by a 200 hp Diesel engine and can run at a maximum speed of 100 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 500 km.
The AD-08 Majid is fitted with a weapon station that has a traverse of 360° and two pods of four missile launcher canisters are mounted on each side. the center of the turret is fitted with electro-optical systems used to acquire targets and to guide the missile. The system is able to acquire aerial threats at a maximum range of 15 km with a traverse of 360° and elevation from 0 to 12°. It can four targets simultaneously.
The AD-08 can be also integrated with the Kashef-99 radar, a 3D mobile phased array system with a range of 12 kilometers used to detect small aircraft. It is capable of spotting 300 targets simultaneously. Using the Kashef-99 radar, the detection range can be enhanced to 30 km.
The missile used by the AD-08 Majid air defense system is equipped with passive imaging infrared (IIR) homing guidance system. It can hit targets with a range from 700 m to 8 km with an altitude from 20 m to 6 km. The missile has a diameter of 156mm, a length of 2,670 mm, and a total weight of 75 kg.