Is Iran just blowing smoke or is there some fire there?

By Rob Janicki
[...] Iranian military leaders unveiled a new missile defense system Friday that is built to destroy “aggressive” U.S. aircraft, according to reports.The system, dubbed Ra’d, “has been built in a bid to confront U.S. aircraft and can hit targets 50km in distance and 75,000 feet in altitude,” Iranian General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the nation’s Aerospace Force Brigadier, told Iran’s Fars News Agency Friday. [...]

There are several defects in this story from an operational standpoint.  First, what Iran says they have and what they really have could easily be two different stories.  With all the talk about Israel and the Western NATO nations rumbling about the possibility of eventually having to take military action against Iran, what would we expect from Iran, other than this announcement?

Even if Iran has a new missile defense system, there is absolutely no proof offered that it is operationally competent to meet the needs of protecting Iran from foreign missiles or aircraft in its airspace.

Additionally, it has to be remembered that the Western NATO nations have very sophisticated counter measures to protect their aircraft from defensive missiles, whether ground based or airborne based.  

In addition, every radar tracking system has its own signature in space that identifies it to incoming attack aircraft and allows attacking aircraft to home in with offensive weapons designed to destroy ground based radar tracking and missile guidance installations.  Still further, ground based radar has a shorter range than air based radar, thus even if Iran had radars based right on their borders, that might not be enough time to home in and differentiate legitimate targets from unmanned deception drone aircraft.  Finally, would Iran have enough time to effectively deploy defensive missiles that would then have enough time to lock in and ultimately destroy real incoming targets?

A lot of questions need to be answered before anyone can take Iran's claims seriously.

Go here for the full article from Adam Kredo at the Free Beacon and judge for yourself whether this is a credible threat to Israel or the Western NATO nations, should they decide to take military action against Iran and their nuclear development sites.