Sayyad (missile)

The Sayyad, a Persian word meaning hunter, is a family of Iranian surface-to-air missiles deployed across several air defense systems, among them the 3rd Khordad, the 15th Khordad and the Bavar-373. Four generations have been produced. Sayyad-1 is the Iranian designation for the Soviet S-75 Dvina, Sayyad-2 is a medium-range, high-altitude missile that resembles the American Patriot in role and has been compared to the RIM-66 Standard Missile, and Sayyad-3 is a long-range missile with active, semi-active and infrared guidance, tested in December 2016 and first paraded in April 2017. Sayyad-4 and the later Sayyad-4B, which appears related to the Russian 48N6E, equip the long-range Power 373 system, whose 4B missile was tested against a fixed target in November 2022. The family reflects Iran's effort to build air defenses at home under sanctions, and the sources that describe its lineage and capabilities partly disagree, so several attributions remain reported rather than settled.