Russia has secretly helped Iran develop advanced supersonic cruise missile technology capable of threatening US warships and other military targets in the Middle East, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Tuesday, Sept. 1.The FT said its investigation uncovered a multiyear covert program, codenamed C430L, which began in 2023, and continued into 2026. The program involved Russian missile specialists helping Iran develop a ramjet propulsion system, which can allow cruise missiles to maintain speeds several times faster than sound.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.According to the report, the program was arranged by Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport in cooperation with NPO Mashinostroyenia, a major Russian missile manufacturer. Leaked correspondence reviewed by the FT indicates that Russian engineers travelled repeatedly to Iran and later analyzed data from Iranian flight tests.“This is the transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology from Russia that the Iranians have wanted to acquire for decades,” Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iranian missiles and senior analyst at Conflict Armament Research, told the FT.Technology that could threaten US warshipsSupersonic cruise missiles combine high speed with low-altitude flight, reducing the time available for air-defense systems to detect and intercept them.The technology could be particularly significant for Iran given the presence of US naval forces and advanced defensive systems in the Gulf.