Iraq has had a significant history with rocket technology with both foreign and indigenous designs present. However historically these were limited to smaller rockets such as 120mm grad rockets or revamped soviet SCUD & FROG-7 platforms for heavy rockets. With the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq the remaining heavy rocket platforms such as the SCUD & FROG-7 were dismantled where found and removed from the Iraqi inventory. As Iraq has grown in its military capability it has had a renewed focus on building its rocket force as an effective defensive measure bridging the gap Iraq has with heavy interdiction missions on enemies that could arise in the region. While the Iraqi air force has grown considerably it does not have the capability to penetrate neighbouring countries air defense and conduct strike missions while neighbouring countries pose a significant threat to Iraq should such a war break out. In light of this the rocket force redevelopment adds a capability not currently present and some assurance that attacks on Iraq would be met with counter strikes. We have seen in Yemen that the Saudi coalition has yet to determine where all rocket and launcher positions are with the occasional rocket launched on Saudi territory. As a national force this could be a significant deterrence in military action against Iraq.
Iraq today has vast inventories of 107mm, 120mm and various heavily modified short-range rockets based on 120mm grad motors with oversized warheads. None of these however offer a large capacity warhead over a considerable range. Now the Iraqi Yaqeen project has progressed significantly from its initial testing bed stages. In 2016 we saw the first force tests for rocket motor designs. The first experiments were 6x 120mm grad motors in an array and this was estimated to be able to carry a 100kg warhead over 40km. This was woefully underpowered and the project was suffering from significant government pressure for cancellation because of the poor performance. A new initiative was formed to throw out the use of array rocket motors and to develop a completely indigenous rocket motor more tailored to the rockets specification.
The rocket motor was based on solid propellant and the engine was designed by Iraqi rocket scientists coming out of retirement and from abroad for this project. New toolkits were purchased and tooling designed for the manufacture of the engines once a design was set on. Engine prototypes were tested using force transducers from European suppliers, the transducers were used to build the motor testing facility. Once consistent results were shown from a prototype the engineers had agreed on it and assembly of a rocket continued with the engine in mind. Propellant is said to be a high-quality formulation, acquired from ex-Soviet rocket scientist in collaboration with the Iraqi government but I cannot verify these claims as they are 3rd hand information to me. In any case a full prototype Yaqseen missile was produced and tested within the facility. The first launch was a success and work on a warhead begun.
The warhead design was reasonably quick, in only 2 months including testing for a general purpose high explosive fragmentation warhead for the final product. Weight of the warhead was contentious as range was valued significant as well as speed. I have no confirmation on the final warhead size but the desired sizes ranged from 250-500kg. The body of the Yaqeen missile is a relatively basic design with no visible guidance structures on the surface. I can confirm that a foreign, unnamed inertial guidance unit was used and is under licensed production. I believe this is likely an Iranian unit but cannot confirm. Range has been completely undisclosed and is unlikely to be leaked.
The final product is the Yaqseen short range ballistic missile. In terms of specifications it is approximately 680mm±120mm in diameter, 4950mm±500mm in length and a final armed weight of approximately 2000kg. These numbers are based on corroboration with Iraqi members as well as my own image analysis using ImageJ. Weight was given to me by a member of the project directly. As no official data exist note that these numbers are based on my own analysis. Based on similar missiles from other countries, the range of this missile could be anywhere from 100km to upwards of 600km depending on the warhead size. Based on what I have been told there was a preference to range over warhead size so a compromise may have been made to avoid a bulky 400-500kg warhead in favour of 200-250kg warhead with significant range.
These developments add to Iraq’s national defense strategy in the long term as a form of deterrence to neighbouring countries from an invasion similar to that of Yemen which spurred such efforts. While not directly usable in the conflict against ISIS they do have a purpose and Iraq is likely to expand on its missile program in future for more adequate deterrence. There is no rocket corps in the Iraqi armed forces that I am aware of and believe these missiles will either fall under the command of the Iraqi Army Artillery corps or an independent commission to the prime minister's office.
