Larry Pressler: “last November, Vice Admiral Scott Redd, Commander of the United States Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf, revealed that…”

“last November, Vice Admiral Scott Redd, Commander of the United States Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf, revealed that Iran had begun developing an integrated ship, submarine, missile, and mine capability in the Persian Gulf. The missile component was to be a new type of Chinese-made cruise missile--known as the C-802 missile. It is an anti-ship cruise missile. It is about 20 feet long, has a range of 75 miles and carries a 350 pound warhead. This is a low flying, turbojet-powered, cruise missile. This is a highly advanced conventional weapon in every sense. It can evade radar and will make any missile offensive launched by the Iranian Navy difficult to track. At that time, it was reported that these missiles would be deployed on patrol boats, also provided by China. In addition, news reports indicated that Iran was seeking a land-based version of the C-802 from China. In January, Admiral Redd reported that Iran had test fired a C-802 missile. The Admiral noted that this new weapon, in the hands of the Iranians represented a 'new threat dimension' to the many tankers and ships that use the Persian Gulf as a commercial shipping lane, and of course, to the 15,000 Americans--sailors, marines, and airmen--in the Persian Gulf.”