Russia has been secretly helping Iran for years to develop a series of supersonic missiles to target US warships, according to a new report.
Project C430L has seen Russia’s top missile experts assist Iran in developing a new class of supersonic weapons capable of targeting the US aircraft carriers and warships deployed to the Middle East, the Financial Times reported.
The program allegedly began in 2023, aimed at helping Tehran develop its own ramjet propulsion system, which would allow its cruise missiles to soar at several times the speed of sound, making them more difficult to intercept.
“For the Iranians, this would give them a qualitatively new strategic weapon system that could threaten US Navy vessels,” Jim Lamson, a former Iran-focused military analyst with the CIA, told the FT.
Russian and Iranian officials have not discussed or provided statements about the program in public.
Cooperation on the ramjet system allegedly began as Iran armed Russia with its advanced and relatively cheap Shahed suicide drones, which have shaped the war in Ukraine.
Russia and Iran have strengthened their military relationship and vowed to stand together economically against the West, including against US sanctions.
Leaked correspondence from the two nations revealed that Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state arms exporter, arranged the supersonic missile assistance program, according to the FT.
Russian arms export officials and rocket experts reportedly made repeated trips to Iran before the C430L contract was formally signed in November 2023, with the two nations exchanging notes on the rocket system development through the years.
There were even plans made in April 2025 to send a delegation of two dozen Russian specialists to Iran to act as consultants on the supersonic jets, according to the correspondence.
The talks continued into 2026, with the latest correspondence dated in June to discuss the next phase of planning for the program, the FT reported.
While Iran has built and flight-tested its own ramjet propulsion system, it still has yet to deploy any Russian-assisted supersonic cruise missile, leaving the current status of its development a mystery.
The report comes just a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to support Iran during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, an event billed as a counterweight to America’s global influence.
Russia has been previously accused of aiding Iran throughout the war with the US, including by providing satellite target assistance for the retaliatory attacks Tehran has repeatedly fired at military bases in the Middle East.
Moscow has also reportedly shipped components for drones, missiles and explosives to Iran during the war.
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