The Yemeni Burkan Missile Riddle

 

What is the Yemeni Burkan (Burkan) missile and what is its origin? We do not know it reliably. There is a striking similarity with the Iranian Qiam Missile. That is why Iran is referred to as a sponsor.

But it can be an other. A rare photo of an unknown missile is tell-tale.This show clearly a North Korean origin (forested mountain on horizon). The projectile (HS-11 ?) has no fins and is similar Qiam or Burkan (right).

Some remains of the Burkan-H2 missile, which was recovered in Saudi Arabia, were examined and as of Iranian Qiam-1 missile identivied.
The presented evidence is ridiculous. Some "evidences" are mysterious. According to all available reports regarding Iranian missile program published, the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group (SBIG) is responsible only for a solid-fuel rocket production. Iranian liquid-fuel missiles are under responsibility of another company. The Scud is a liquid-fuel missile, and has therefore nothing to do with the Shahid Bagheri group. The presented debris with logo is a deliberately wrong assignment. It is nonsensical to believe that Iran makes the mistake of exporting the easily identifiable Qiam-1 to Yemen. Is there a wrong game played to discredite Iran ?
The United Nations experts continue to investigate the fragments of the missile that was launched by Yemeni rebels towards Riyadh, stating that there is no confirmation that the rocket is of Iranian origin, UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said.


North Korean HS-11

 1. Iranian Qiam-1 

The Qiam was first presented in Iran in 2010. It was found that the Qiam is a modified Scud-C. Compared to the Scud-B, the intertank section is missing in the Scud-C. A notable finding of the investigations is that a Scud-C does not have stainless steel tanks as the Scud-B, but that they made of aluminum alloy. From the Scud-C there are no reliable documents or photos of the Soviet original. In Iran and North Korea, however, the Scud-C is standard as Shahab-2 and Hwasong-6 in various designs.

Recent research on my part (not least by a comparison with the Burkan-2H  missiles) has been noticed that the Qiam is longer than previously thought. Although the Qiam is a  Scud-C from the origin, but has in addition to the significantly shortened guidance unit, the absence of the fins and the unique WH, a extended body of  about 1.00 m. Based on photos a total missile length of about 12 m can be measured. Due to the increase in fuel and the longer burning time (about +10 sec), the range of the projectile increases significantly.
The latest evidence, based on a wreckage from the January 8, 2020 attack on the US-base Ain-al-Assad in Iraq, confirms that the Qiam is a strikingly modified Scud-C. The information gathered from wrecks of the Burkan-2H in Yemen had already shown that the fuel tank had been moved from top to bottom and the oxidant tank is now mounted above it. This oxidizer tank is divided into two separate sections, separated by a bottom with a valve.
These findings also solve the riddle of the observed arrangement of the filling valves on the tanks: marked red for the oxidizer and yellow for the fuel.

                   

         



Qiam with its typical short guidance section

     

 

 


It can be clearly seen that the oxidizer tank is split

 3. Iranian Qiam-2 

The Qiam-2 differs from the Qiam-1 in the winged WH, which allows a more precise sighting to the target.



Qiam-2 with mini-fins and winged WH

        


Qiam-2 attack against ISIS

 4. Yemeni Burkan-1 

The Burkan-1 is a standard Scud-B


 

 

Details

 

 5. Yemeni Burkan-2 

The Burkan-2 is obviously a standard Scud-C, and equipped with shortened guidance unit and typical WH similar the Qiam-1.


        


 


Burkan-2 missile with fins

 6. Yemeni Burkan-H2 

The longer Burkan-H2 is in its whole appearance very similar to the Qiam-1 (or HS-11) with about 12 m in length.

     
Burkan-H2 with mini-fins similar Qiam-2

 
Burkan-H2 missiles have a short guidance unit as we know it from the Qiam-1

Some remains of the Burkan-H2 missile salvaged in Saudi Arabia have allegedly been identified as parts of an Iranian Qiam missile. But the United Nations experts continue to investigate the fragments of the missile that was launched by Yemeni rebels towards Riyadh, stating that there is no confirmation that the missile is of Iranian origin, UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said.

 7. Yemeni Burkan-3 

The Burkan-3 (now Zolfaqar) is a Burkan-H2 with a shorter and lighter WH, which further increases the range.

   


        


Zolfaqar