Meet ‘Castle Breaker,’ Iranian missile wreaking havoc in US war

Meet 'Castle Breaker, ' Iran's missile wreaking havoc in US war Exclusive: Defense experts informed USA TODAY that Iranian missiles have significantly damaged U.S.

Key points

• Iran first introduced the Kheibar Shekan, "Breaker of the Kheibar" or castle, in reference to a historical fortified oasis in the Arabian Peninsula, in 2022.
• "The Iranians fired 6, 000 drones and ballistic missiles and we intercepted 1, 500, " McCaffrey remarked.
• A Wall Street Journal investigation concurred, saying in a June 25 report that the extensive damage from Iranian missiles and drones has the U.S.
• President Donald Trump attended the dignified transfer and met with families of four fallen service members at Dover Air Force Base.
• Some of those analysts believe Iran applied Castle Breaker missiles in the July 17 strikes on the U.S.

WASHINGTON – Iran has fielded a new generation of ballistic missiles that can evade American air defenses and strike with far greater precision – a technological leap that military experts say has damaged the ring of U.S. Bases throughout the Persian Gulf and left them more vulnerable than they've been in decades.

Notably, the centerpiece of that shift is a highly mobile ballistic missile Iran calls the Kheibar Shekan, or "Castle Breaker, " which has a range of 900 miles and a satellite-guided, maneuverable warhead.

Iran's military has applied the missile extensively in strikes on the U.S. Naval hub in Bahrain and other American bases during the six-month war with the U.S. And Israel, according to the Iranian administration and confirmed in USA TODAY interviews with former U.S. Military and intelligence authorities and weapons analysts.

Some of those analysts believe Iran applied Castle Breaker missiles in the July 17 strikes on the U.S. Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Al-Azraq, Jordan that killed three American service members – an assertion Iran itself has additionally produced, according to official administration statements obtained by USA TODAY.

And on Aug. 31, an Iranian state-run outlet confirmed it applied Kheibar Shekan missiles to hit Muwaffaq Salti -and the King Hussein air base in Jordan – in response to last night's U.S. Military attack on Iran's Larak Island.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) "targeted the technical and maintenance infrastructure as well as fighter-jet bases at the two facilities, causing significant damage" at the bases, remarked Iran's IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency.

Unlike a conventional ballistic missile that travels a fixed path defenders can track and try to intercept, the Kheibar Shekan can rapidly change course in the final phase of its descent, potentially slipping past air defenses and hitting targets with devastating precision, those sources stated.

Mounted on mobile launchers, the solid-fuel missile is extremely tough to detect and destroy before launch, allowing it to survive American bombardment campaigns. It can easily reach U.S. And allied targets throughout the Middle East, including in Israel – and major American bases like Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and the Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

"We designed entire air defense systems based on this understanding of what we thought they would do, " Jonathan Hackett, a former Marine and U.S. Intelligence officer, remarked of Iran's military capabilities. And now, he remarked, "they're doing something different."

"So now you have to change your defensive posture for missile defense in a way that we hadn't been doing previously. Ever, " remarked Hackett, a fluent Farsi speaker who spent two decades working on Iran-related military and intelligence matters out of six U.S. Embassies. He held positions at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and Marine Forces Special Operations Command before retiring in October 2024.

In interviews with USA TODAY, Hackett and other experts described how the Kheibar Shekan and other Iranian missiles have on occasion penetrated the layered defenses American forces have relied on for generations during the war against Tehran that President Donald Trump introduced jointly with Israel six months ago.

Hackett believes Kheibar missiles were central to the July 17 strike. Like other analysts, though, he remarked U.S. Office-holders have created that hard to corroborate by asking major commercial satellite providers to black out imagery of sensitive U.S. Military sites in the region.

Iranian missiles have additionally caused extensive damage to the U.S. Naval Backing Activity base in Bahrain – the regional hub of the Navy's 5th Fleet – and other key U.S. Military installations, according to U.S. And allied statements, news reports, satellite imagery and USA TODAY interviews.

Notably, an independent analysis of satellite imagery conducted by The Washington Post made public that Iranian missile and drone strikes damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures and pieces of equipment throughout at least 15 U.S. Military sites in the Middle East during the conflict.

Top administration authorities, including Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and Trump himself, have insisted that the U.S. Campaign has destroyed Iran's military capabilities and that U.S. Air defenses have been successful most of the time – an assertion Iran vehemently denies.

"U.S. Forces absolutely remain fully operational. We have everything required to strike at the time and place of the President's choosing, " chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell remarked in an Aug. 28 statement to USA TODAY. "Across multiple combatant commands, we have already executed successful operations while maintaining a deep, ready arsenal to defend our people and our interests."

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez remarked he had "Nothing further to add" on the matter.

Notably, the Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment on Aug. 31 regarding whether the Castle Breaker broke through U.S. Defenses during the overnight exchange of military strikes and caused damage.

Iranian strikes 'permanently' cut off access to 15 US bases in Persian Gulf, former general notes.

When retired four-star Army Gen, the threat from the relatively new Iranian technology supported prompt a public reckoning earlier this month. Barry McCaffrey stated on X that the United States had "probably permanently lost access to 15 Persian Gulf bases" since of Iranian missile and drone strikes.

McCaffrey's Aug. 22 post has drawn more than 3.8 million views, sparking a debate in U.S. Military and intelligence circles over whether the Trump administration had sufficiently accounted for Iran's missile counterpunch before launching an unprovoked war.

McCaffrey, who served in the U.S. Army for 32 years and retired as a four-star General, is highly decorated for being wounded three times in combat. He led 26, 000 troops into battle in Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 Gulf War to liberate Kuwait from an Iraqi invasion. More lately, he has been a prominent military analyst and critic of Trump's war in Iran.

McCaffrey was responding to a statement on X that Iranian counterattacks had all but destroyed the Bahrain base. It is the primary anchor for U.S. Naval power in the Persian Gulf region. It additionally provides logistical, supply and operational backing to U.S. And coalition ships, aircraft and personnel throughout the Middle East.

Since of that counterattack and others like it, McCaffrey wrote, "Iran (is) now poised to control access (to) the Gulf States. (The) US will have to negotiate new access in western Saudi Arabia, Israel, southern Europe."

In interviews with USA TODAY, McCaffrey remarked the Iranian missile capability, especially the Kheibar Shekan, is central to his conclusion that U.S. Bases in the Gulf are too vulnerable to stay where they are.

Meanwhile, the missile, he remarked, is particularly agile, well-hidden by Iran, and something that U.S. Military installations in the region can't completely defend against. Its capabilities, he remarked, amount to "a significant change in technology."

"As it starts reentry, it can change the impact point, " which, McCaffrey remarked, "clearly complicates (U.S. Military) calculations on how to hit it" using advanced U.S. Missile defense systems.

All it takes, he remarked, "is one, two or three of them" getting through, "and suddenly there's a potentially catastrophic impact."

Both McCaffrey and Hackett remarked the Kheibar Shekan and other Iranian missiles, combined with Iran's aggressive apply of sophisticated drones, have caused considerable damage to U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force bases and smaller encampments throughout the Middle East.

For context, a USA TODAY review of congressional research, defense assessments and the public record, along with numerous interviews, supports that assessment.

USA TODAY's reporting additionally indicates the United States' vulnerability to Iranian missiles was not a surprise to U.S. Authorities before the war, nor was it a fluke.

McCaffrey remarked Iran's Kheibar strikes on Israel in 2024 were largely ineffective, but newer versions of it have caused extensive damage in the current war that the Pentagon has not acknowledged. That includes U.S. Radar and tactical communications systems, missile-defense nodes and air-to-air refuelers, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes "and other expensive aircraft that were destroyed while parked on an airfield, " he remarked.

"The Iranians fired 6, 000 drones and ballistic missiles and we intercepted 1, 500, " McCaffrey remarked. "So a bunch of them got through, and they did immense damage." Iran's missile technology threatens US bases in Gulf.

For context, the U.S. Vulnerability to Iranian missiles isn't a secret; the Pentagon and U.S. Intelligence agencies have known regarding it for decades and quietly judged it to be manageable.

But then Trump provoked Iran into counterattacking after launching the war on Feb. 28. Within minutes, Tehran began unleashing its arsenal against military and administration targets throughout the region.

"It's been obvious for decades that you can go in and conduct operations in the Gulf only if the Iranians don't try and stop you, " McCaffrey informed USA TODAY. He remarked Iran's response in this war has been devastating not only to U.S. Military bases in the region but additionally to the U.S. Allies who host them, prompting a wholesale reassessment of whether the bases are more sitting ducks than geostrategic military hubs going forward.

For context, a Wall Street Journal investigation concurred, saying in a June 25 report that the extensive damage from Iranian missiles and drones has the U.S. Re-evaluating its entire footprint in the region, according to U.S. Authorities familiar with the deliberations. How the Kheibar Shekan 'maneuverable' missile works.

Taken together, the developments around meet Castle Breaker, Iranian missile wreaking havoc in US war point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.