In the framework of an official visit by the Minister of People’s Power for Defense, Padrino López, the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela confirmed the reception and incorporation of new Iranian-origin CM-90 anti-ship missiles. The news, circulated through videos and images, highlights the opening of facilities for the maintenance and sustainment of these missiles acquired by the Venezuelan government from the Iranian regime. These are stationed at the “Agustín Armario” Naval Base in Puerto Cabello to support new Iranian equipment recently acquired.
As recent reports have been indicating, military cooperation between Venezuela and Iran has been deepening over the past months and years. One of the milestones of this bilateral relationship in the naval sphere was the acquisition for the Bolivarian Navy of new Peykaap missile boats, which were unveiled at the naval review held in July last year.
While further details are not known, the incorporation of new CM-90 anti-ship missiles presumably forms part of the completion process for the new Peykaap missile boats. Designed as a means of coastal defense, these fast and agile vessels are heavily armed for their size, equipped with anti-ship missile launchers and torpedo launch tubes, complemented in later models with remote weapon stations.
Regarding the SM-90 missile, it was officially unveiled by Iran in 2022 during the DIMDEX 2022 exhibition, where its approximate size was observed. It has a diameter of 280mm, an approximate weight of 350 kilograms, and a length of 4.16 meters. According to announcements from the Iranian regime, it is equipped with an active guidance radar and a turbojet engine that gives it a range of approximately 90 kilometers.
With the confirmation of this new capability by the Bolivarian Navy, the National Bolivarian Armed Forces continue a process of replacement and recovery of capabilities, replacing systems of Western origin with those provided by other suppliers aligned with the stance of the Venezuelan government. Russia and Iran emerge as the main suppliers of armaments, with an increasing presence of Iranian equipment being observed. In this regard, another segment explored by Venezuela, following trends observed in the Ukrainian conflict, is the development of loitering munitions based on models from the Shahed family manufactured by Iran and actively employed by Russia against Ukraine, receiving the designation ‘Zamora V-1’.
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