The next version of Iran’s ‘Bavar-373″ air defense system will be able to take ballistic missiles. The Iranian Armed Forces plans have been devised to manufacture the second version of Bavar-373 air defense missile system. The new version will be suited to intercept ballistic targets, saying more details will be made public in the near future. The current version is capable of relatively slower cruise missiles and fighter jets. The Bavar-373 has become capable of countering the fighter jets which have a low-observable Radar Cross Section. In November 2022, the Iranian Defense Ministry unveiled ‘Sayyad 4B’, a new solid-propellant missile paired with Bavar-373 air defense system with a range of 300 kilometers.
Bavar-373 (Belief and 373 being Abjad for ?? ????????? or O, Messenger of Allah) is an Iranian long-range road-mobile surface-to-air missile system unveiled in August 2016. Iran describes it as a competitor with the S-300 missile system. It is manufactured by the Iranian Defence Ministry in cooperation with unspecified local manufacturers and universities. The system was formally unveiled during a ceremony attended by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on 22 August 2019, and was declared operational the same day. An upgraded version was unveiled in 2022. Iran described it as a competitor with the S-400and said it is capable of shooting down Fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
Bavar-373 will utilize Sayyad-4 missiles, which are contained in two rectangular launch canisters. Sayyad (Hunter) is a serie of solid fuel surface-to-air missiles (SAM) manufactured by Iran. No formal information was given about this missile but it appears from news photos that Sayyad-4 is similar to Sayyad-3 in wings and control surfaces, however it varies lightly in frontal shape. The canisters containing the Sayyad-4 missiles are to be carried on the Zoljanah 10×10 truck. Iran has made a special liquid fuel for missiles that is as durable as solid fuels, allowing the projectiles to be stored for longer periods of time. The new system has been tested as of October 2022 with a 300 km range. Sayyad-4B was revealed on 5 November 2022. It has a range of 300 kilometers.
In April 2015, Iran unveiled some of Bavar’s subsystems, which include the Fakour commanding and smart control system which has the ability to collect information from all sources relevant to air defence, including passive and active military radars (such as the Mersad), signal surveillance, missile systems and commanding and control systems. Bavar-373 uses a phased array radar for tracking aerodynamic targets and ballistic missiles in medium to long ranges, mounted on the ZAFAR heavy truck. One of the radars used in Bavar-373 is Meraj-4 (Ascension), a phased array radar with range of 450 km which uses fuzzy logic techniques to spot targets. Meraj can track up to 200 targets simultaneously.
