Russia quietly working with Iran to develop advanced cruise missiles – report

Moscow reportedly aiding Iranian efforts to develop supersonic cruise missiles capable of hitting American aircraft carriers.

By World Israel News Staff

Russia has been quietly working with Iran to develop advanced supersonic cruise missiles capable of threatening US aircraft carriers and other warships in the Middle East, according to a Financial Times report.

The covert program, codenamed C430L, began in 2023 and has brought some of Russia’s most experienced missile engineers into direct cooperation with Iran’s defense establishment, the FT reported Tuesday, citing leaked Russian correspondence, travel records and military patents.

The project is focused on helping Iran master ramjet propulsion, technology that allows a cruise missile to sustain powered flight at several times the speed of sound. Iran has already built and flight-tested the propulsion system with Russian assistance, although there is no evidence that a resulting missile has yet entered operational service.

“This is the transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology from Russia that the Iranians have wanted to acquire for decades,” Fabian Hinz, a senior analyst with Conflict Armament Research, told the FT.

“A program like this would require political clearance from the very top in Russia,” he added.

The technology could significantly increase the threat Iran poses to US and allied naval forces in and around the Persian Gulf. Unlike ballistic missiles, which follow high-arcing trajectories, cruise missiles can fly at relatively low altitudes. Combining that flight profile with sustained supersonic speed would reduce the amount of time available for ship-based air defenses to detect and intercept an incoming weapon.

“For the Iranians, this would give them a qualitatively new strategic weapon system that could threaten US Navy vessels,” former CIA Iran military analyst Jim Lamson told the FT.

Iran has developed a large arsenal of ballistic missiles and slower cruise missiles and has claimed to possess hypersonic ballistic weapons, but a reliable ramjet-powered supersonic cruise missile has remained a significant gap in its capabilities.

Tehran publicly claimed in August 2023 that it had obtained technology for a supersonic cruise missile powered by a ramjet and said the weapon was undergoing testing.

According to the report, however, Iran was at the same time receiving extensive behind-the-scenes assistance from Russian specialists.

The program was arranged through Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state arms exporter, working with NPO Mashinostroyenia, one of the country’s leading missile-development organizations.

NPO Mashinostroyenia has long been deeply involved in Russian cruise missile and strategic weapons programs. The US Treasury sanctioned the company in 2014, describing it as a “leading Russian rocketry company” responsible for cruise missile systems launched from surface ships, submarines and ground platforms, as well as work connected to Russia’s strategic nuclear forces.

Leaked travel records reviewed by the FT showed senior Russian engineers visiting Iran repeatedly in 2023 before a formal contract was signed between Rosoboronexport and Iran’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics that November.

Among those who traveled to Iran were specialists in sea-launched cruise missiles, aerodynamics, ballistics and air-breathing propulsion.

One engineer identified in the report, Alexander Chebakov, had been named on Russian patents involving the control of supersonic ramjet engines.

By 2025, Russian engineers had received extensive Iranian technical information from a ramjet flight test and were analyzing problems involving the engine’s fuel system, combustion, air intake and nozzle, according to the leaked correspondence.

The Russians then sent Iran detailed technical questions about the test. Rosoboronexport subsequently proposed dispatching roughly two dozen specialists to Iran for further consultations.

“The Russians have focused on this technology for a very long time,” Hinz said.

“People often think about technology transfers as being solely about sending blueprints, parts or entire missiles, but getting a 60-year-old engineer to fly over and problem-solve, using their experience, is hugely valuable,” he added.

The correspondence indicates the program continued into 2026, even after the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February. A June Rosoboronexport letter reportedly showed the two governments discussing Russian technical reports and negotiations over the next phase of C430L.

The Kremlin, Rosoboronexport, NPO Mashinostroyenia and the Iranian government did not respond to the FT’s requests for comment.

The revelation comes as Russia has become increasingly open about its strategic relationship with Iran.

Meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was continuing to assist Tehran during its conflict with the United States.

“During this difficult period, we are striving to provide you with the necessary assistance,” Putin said, adding that Russia was “supplying you with essential goods.”

Pezeshkian thanked Putin for Russia’s support and described relations between Tehran and Moscow as “strategic.” He said the two countries could cooperate to resist US pressure and sanctions.

The deepening relationship builds on years of increasingly close military cooperation.

Iran supplied Russia with Shahed attack drones and then helped Moscow establish the industrial infrastructure necessary to manufacture Iranian-designed weapons domestically. Russia’s Alabuga facility ultimately began producing large numbers of Shahed-136-derived attack drones for use against Ukraine.

Russia and Iran formalized their growing relationship in January 2025 with a 20-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement.

The treaty calls for expanded defense cooperation, joint military exercises and greater “military-technical cooperation,” although it stops short of establishing a mutual-defense alliance.

Moscow has since reportedly agreed to provide Iran with additional weapons.

Earlier this year, the FT reported that Tehran had agreed to a roughly €500 million deal to obtain 500 Russian Verba shoulder-fired air-defense launchers and 2,500 missiles as Iran sought to rebuild air defenses damaged by Israeli attacks.

C430L would represent a potentially more consequential form of cooperation because it does not simply provide Iran with finished Russian weapons. Instead, it could give Tehran the expertise necessary to independently manufacture and further develop an entire class of advanced missiles.

“If the Russians are able to help the Iranians fix their technical problems,” Lamson said, “I think this would be one of the more impactful areas of Russian military-technical assistance to Iran in recent years and one with long-term benefits for Iran’s defense industry.”