LORA | |
---|---|
LORA missile in launcher | |
Type | Theater quasiballistic missile; air-launched ballistic missile [1] |
Service history | |
Used by | |
Wars | 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | Israel Aerospace Industries |
Specifications | |
Mass | 1.6 tons (1,600 kg) |
Length | 5.2 meters |
Diameter | 624 mm |
Warhead | 570 kg high explosive, bomblets or high speed penetrator warhead [2] |
Operational range | 90 - 430 km [3] |
Maximum speed | Hypersonic |
Guidance system | inertial navigation, GPS and TV terminal |
Accuracy | 10m CEP |
LORA (LOng Range Artillery) is a theater quasi-ballistic missile developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
LORA began development in 2002. [4] The missile has a range of 400 kilometres (250 mi) and a CEP of 10 metres (33 ft) when using a combination of GPS and TV for terminal guidance. It can be ship-launched from inside of a standard Intermodal container. [5] [6] An air-launched variant called Air LORA was unveiled in June 2024. [7]
On 11 June 2018, the Azerbaijan revealed it had purchased the LORA system from Israel at an undisclosed date following president Ilham Aliyev's visit to an Azerbaijani Land Forces missile unit housing both the LORA and the Polonez. [8] [9] LORA was used in the final days of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, being used to target a vital bridge in the Lachin corridor linking Armenia to the Nagorno-Karabakh region. [10] It was initially thought to have destroyed the bridge, but later evidence suggested it had only inflicted limited damage. [11]
During Aero India in June 2023, India's Bharat Electronics signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IAI to produce the LORA in India under license. [12] [13]
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Because of the geography, history, and sensitivities of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, accusations, allegations, and statements have been made of involvement by third-party and international actors during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, including in media reports. Azerbaijan has been accused of employing Syrian mercenaries during the war, including reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). There have also been allegations of Kurdish militia from Syria and Iraq fighting on the Armenian side, and although some third-party sources had confirmed it, some publications had considered these claims "dubious". During the war, ethnic Armenian volunteers from the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America fought on Armenian side. Both sides have denied employing mercenaries in the war, but the OHCHR had stated that there were reports about Syrian fighters motivated primarily by private gain fighting on Azerbaijan's side recruited with Turkey's assistance and foreign nationals fighting on Armenian side with motivation being investigated, calling for withdrawal of any mercenaries and related actors from Nagorno-Karabakh.