Qaem missile family

An Iranian family of similarly named but distinct short-range air-defense missiles and UAV-carried precision-guided bombs, including the Qaem-118 interceptor.

Overview

Qaem, also transliterated Ghaem, denotes several Iranian guided weapons rather than a single continuous missile design. The air-defense branch began with a compact, laser beam-riding surface-to-air missile derived from the Toophan anti-tank weapon and intended primarily for use against low-flying helicopters and uncrewed aircraft. It includes the baseline Qaem, the helicopter-associated Qaem-114 and the proximity-fuzed Qaem-M. A substantially different member, Qaem-118, was unveiled in 2025 as a longer-range air-defense missile with a claimed 25 km reach.

Iran also applies the Qaem name to small air-to-ground glide bombs carried by uncrewed aircraft. These comprise infrared-, laser- and television-guided versions associated with platforms including the Mohajer-6. Although the original SAM and the glide bombs are similarly sized and share a reported design lineage, they serve different missions and should not be treated as interchangeable variants. The Qaem family overview identifies the separate surface-to-air and air-to-ground branches.

Public reporting provides only limited technical evidence for the Qaem-118. Iranian accounts describe radar, electro-optical and thermal tracking, while one secondary report characterizes it as a turbojet-powered interceptor carried in five-round launchers. Iranian sources have credited the weapon during wartime air-defense operations, but no Qaem-118 interception has been independently confirmed.

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