TheRanting Lunatic

🇮🇷 Iranian Discombobulator! Anthony Aguilar noticed something unusual about the way US Central Command described its latest strikes on Iran. Normally, when CENTCOM reports striking a target on Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, Jask, or Sarik, its statements are quite specific. They refer to a missile launcher or a missile. This time, however, CENTCOM used a different word: "device." That caught Aguilar's attention. In military reporting, words matter, particularly when describing battle damage. If the target was a missile launcher, why not call it one? If it was a missile, why not say so? What exactly had the US military struck? Aguilar believes the answer may lie in a capability Iran has been developing. Iran operates small submarines, including the Ghadir and Fatah classes, under a shared area of responsibility between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian Navy. These submarines are much smaller than those operated by the United States, Israel, or NATO countries. But their size does not make them insignificant. They can carry ballistic missiles. Operating these submarines throughout the Strait of Hormuz presents challenges. The narrow waterway is crowded with ships, mines, and US surveillance drones, leaving limited room to maneuver or remain concealed. But the submarines offer Iran something else: a ballistic missile capability. According to Aguilar, Iran has adapted that capability for use on land. Rather than relying on the submarines themselves to launch the missiles, Iran has modified the launch systems so they can operate from mobile land-based platforms. He points to Russian equipment, including older K10 systems associated with the S-400 family, as part of the technology involved in these modifications. The idea is to adapt existing components so missiles can be launched through tube-based systems rather than conventional launch rails. The result is a different way of deploying a capability Iran already possesses. Aguilar says the missiles involved are JK-2 ballistic missiles, associated with the coastal port city of Jask. Iran originally configured these missiles for its Ghadir and Fatah mini-submarines. Now, he believes Iran has adapted the same technology for mobile land-based use. That may explain why the recent US strikes have attracted his attention. When American forces struck targets on Qeshm Island, the objects visible in the available imagery appeared to resemble missile systems. But they did not look like conventional missile launchers. And that brings us back to CENTCOM's choice of words. Rather than identifying the targets as missiles or launchers, the US military described them as devices. Aguilar's interpretation is that the United States may be encountering a configuration it has not previously seen in this form. The technology itself is not necessarily new. Iran has combined existing systems and modified their configuration to create a different operational capability. As Aguilar explains, it is like taking parts from an old Toyota and an old Nissan and combining them to build something that has never existed in quite that form before. The underlying capability remains the same. The way it is deployed has changed. And that could be what makes Iran's latest missile configuration particularly significant.