Russia secretly helps Iran develop engines for hypersonic cruise missiles, FT reports

Russia is secretly helping Iran develop a new class of hypersonic cruise missiles.

Source: the Financial Times in an investigation based on leaked Russian correspondence, experts' travel data and an analysis of military patents

Details: The FT says the years-long secret programme is codenamed C430L.

"The main purpose of C430L is to help Iran to develop a ramjet propulsion system, an engine that allows a cruise missile to sustain flight at several times the speed of sound," the FT says.

Missile and military experts said the technology is almost certainly intended for anti-ship cruise missiles and cruise missiles for strikes against ground targets. They estimate that such weapons could pose a threat to US aircraft carriers and other warships in the Middle East.

"Iran has built and flight-tested the ramjet propulsion system, although there is no evidence that a Russian-assisted supersonic cruise missile has yet been deployed," the FT says.

The programme was coordinated by Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport and NPO Mashinostroyenia. The C430L contract with Iran's Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics was signed in November 2023.

By 2025, NPO Mashinostroyenia had received a substantial amount of technical material from Iran on the ramjet engine. Russian engineers analysed data from Iranian flight tests, particularly the performance of the fuel system, combustion stability, air intake and engine nozzle, after which they sent questions and recommendations to the Iranian side.

In April 2025, Rosoboronexport proposed sending around two dozen Russian experts to Iran for technical consultations as part of C430L.

The FT established that senior experts from NPO Mashinostroyenia were involved in the programme, including designers who had worked on naval cruise missiles, ramjet engines and high-speed missile systems.

Nicole Grajewski, a professor at Sciences Po University in Paris, said the secret ramjet programme "shows Russia is trying to broaden the Ukraine war and draw the US into different theatres". "Russia doesn't care as much about the red lines in the region," the professor added.

According to the FT, the programme continued in 2026. In June, Rosoboronexport and the Iranian side were still discussing elements of the next stage of development and Russian technical reports. However, the outlet was unable to establish whether the next stage of the programme had begun.

The Kremlin, Rosoboronexport, NPO Mashinostroyenia and the Iranian government did not respond to the Financial Times' requests for comment on the programme.

Background: Earlier, the FT reported that Iran had signed a secret €495 million deal with Russia for the supply of 500 Verba man-portable air-defence systems and 2,500 missiles for them. The contract was also signed through Rosoboronexport.

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