358 missile

The first, publicly known examples of the "358" missile was identified in a seizure on November 25, 2019, by the US Navy in the Gulf of Aden. The vessel, the Al-Raheeb was intercepted by the USS Forrest Sherman with two "358" missiles among the illegal munitions found. A further intercept on February 9, 2020, on the dhow Al Qanas 1 by the USS Normandy uncovered a further three missiles among the items seized.[2]

A fully assembled "358" missile was found on October 21, 2021, by the 52nd Brigade of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the vicinity of the Tuz Khormatu military airfield, in a hamlet called Albu Sabah in Iraq as a possible warning or threat to US forces in the area.[3]

A further shipment of the "358" missiles was captured by HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy, on January 28, 2022.[4]

According to a UN Panel of Experts,[5] it was determined that a significant amount of components were commercially available and acquired off the shelf through a series of shell companies. The main engine was a Titan AMT gas turbine by AMT Netherlands, while an Inertial Sensor Module MTi-100 was identified to be from Xsense Technologies. The missile is observed to be using an optical proximity fuse.

The "358" missile has a solid fuel booster stage for launch. Once launched, the booster will detach and the remainder of the flight will be taken over by the gas turbine engine.