Iranian Slip-Up Reveals Key Information on Nuclear Site’s Air Defences: How Vulnerable is Natanz to Western Attacks?

The publication of a a two-second clip of an Iranian command centre by state media sources has reportedly resulted in an operational security failure, and provided valuable information to both analysts and potential attackers regarding the air defences in place around one of the country’s most sensitive targets, the Natanz nuclear facility. Commenting on the new information, researcher with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Sam Lair, stated the clip provided “the clearest look that we’ve had for air defences for nuclear sites,” and provided a “remarkable” amount of data on defences that were previously kept tightly secret. Iran’s lack of modern combat aircraft, or of any kind of airborne early warning and control (AEW&amp;C) aircraft, has left the country very heavily reliant on its network of ground based radars and surface-to-air missile systems to protect its airspace, with a number of sophisticated systems having been developed domestically while others have been procured from Russia. Lair and his associates were able to geolocate the radars protecting Natanz, building up a picture of four radars including a local Najm 804 radar developed for the Khordad 15 long range surface-to-air missile system, a smaller radars associated with the Russian Tor short ranged anti-missile system, and two derivatives of the Soviet P-12 radar – a system that saw extensive use during the Vietnam War.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/24/article_6831a0e2a295b8_31613638.jpg" title="Antenna From P-12 Radar System">Among the notable revelations regarding the defences around the Natanz facility is that information for the four radar systems is displayed on four separate screens, rather than being networked to provide a combined and networked picture of the battlefield. “It is surprising that the defences for one of the most sophisticated sites is this siloed and fragmented… I expected a little more sophistication for such an area of importance,” Lair commented. “In a lot of other videos, they’re much more careful to blur out monitors like this,” he added regarding the revelation of this information. The limitations affecting the air defences in place leave the Natanz facility potentially vulnerable, although it remains very heavily fortified which remains a leading challenge in planning a potential attack. Hundreds of North Korean scientists and engineers previously worked at Natanz, with the East Asian state reported to have helped Iran heavily fortified key parts of the facility deep underground, making it impossible to damage unless using either nuclear weapons or multiple bunker buster weapons such as GBU-57 bombers.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/24/article_68319fa212f265_08477638.png" title="Surface to Air Missile Battery From Khordad 15 Air Defence System" >The Khordad 15 air defence system at the centre of the Natanz facility’s defences was unveiled in June 2019, and has a 120 kilometre engagement range using Sayyad 3 surface-to-air missiles. It can reportedly track stealth targets at ranges of up to 45 kilometres, although this range could potentially be extended should the system be networked with other assets. The system has been compared to the Russian S-350 in its role and capabilities, supporting Iran’s<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/iran-next-generation-bavar-373-threat" > longer ranged Bavar 373</a>, S-300PMU-2, and <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/upgrades-s200-iran-modernising-a2ad" >S-200 </a>air defence systems. Iranian air defences are expected to continue to be strengthened by large scale production of systems like the Khordad 15 and Bavar 373, as well as by the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/iran-confirms-order-finalised-su35-fighters" target="_blank">procurement</a> of Russian Su-35 fighters before the end of the year. The Su-35’s <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/why-russia-s-air-force-loves-the-su-35-s-irbis-e-radar-a-detailed-look-at-the-sensor-suite-built-to-hunt-stealth-fighters" target="_blank">Irbis-E primary radar</a> is much larger than that of any other fighter deployed in the Middle East, with the aircraft also integrating&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/su35-triple-radars-detect-stealth" >two smaller complementary L-band radars</a> in its wing roots optimised for detecting stealth aircraft and launching electronic attacks.&nbsp;These sensors and the Su-35’s very high endurance, and resulting ability to loiter over facilities such as Natanz, makes the fighter an optimal elevated sensor platform, but only if its sensors can be networked with radar inputs from ground-based systems. The procurement of Su-35s, which are scheduled to begin deliveries before the end of 2025, could spur Iran to accelerate efforts to network its multiple radar systems together, in order to make the greatest use of its new fighter assets.&nbsp;It remains uncertain how many Su-35s Iran will procure, with unconfirmed reports indicating planned orders for up to 64 aircraft to replace a large portion of the country’s ageing Vietnam War era F-4D/Es.