Iran’s Testing of Russian Shkval Torpedo Documented
The Russian Shkval torpedo was tested for Iranian naval officials in 2004 and the resulting data were described in several newly disclosed Persian-language documents.
Iran’s own Hoot torpedo is evidently derived from the Shkval. Both are high-speed, supercavitating anti-ship missiles.
Some of the newly disclosed Iranian documents, which include Shkval technical specifications and test performance data as well as Hoot production records, are marked “khayli mahramaneh” or “very confidential,” the third of four classification levels used in Iran. The documents have not been approved for public release, but copies were obtained by Secrecy News.
“One thing became increasingly clear: AI doesn’t simply introduce a new category of risk. It changes the speed, scale, complexity, and interaction of risks that already exist.”
In an ideal world, we would not have state or federal climate intervention research bans. We would have researchers and institutions that would not shy away from revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly of these technologies and doing so responsibly.
“What excites me is that it’s very tempting to be very discouraged, and say, ‘Oh, we’ve got these archaic institutions that are calcified and you could never change them.’ But I think we’re in the middle of a technological revolution that will upend lots of things, and does provide a window.”
Ask people what worries them most right now, and they’ll say the cost of living and their livelihoods, not climate change. But those concerns are not separate.