TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran equipped its vessels and coastal defense units with Ghadir cruise missiles to reinforce defense measures in its territories and waters.
"Ghadir cruise missiles have been mounted on both Navy destroyers and missile-launching warships and they are also used as coast-to-sea missiles," Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told FNA on Monday.

He said that Ghadir missiles have already been supplied to the Navy, and explained that Ghadir is a surface-to-surface missile although it will most be used by coast to sea fire.

The Iranian Navy announced in June that it has mounted Nour (Light), Qader (Mighty) and long-range Qadr (Magnitude) missile systems on its newly overhauled and modernized destroyer named Bayandor.

Sayyari explained that Ghadir enjoys a longer range, a more destructive fire power and higher precision capability than Nour and Qader.

Sayyari made the remarks in a ceremony to launch the newly overhauled destroyer in Iran's territorial waters in the Southern port of Bandar Abbas.

Anti-ship Nour and Qader cruise missile systems are ultra-advanced and self-relying systems which have remarkably improved in radar, satellite, precision, range and navigation terms compared to their predecessors.

Sayyari also elaborated on other optimization measures adopted to overhaul and modernize the destroyer, and said "mount of 76-mm and 46-mm artilleries and some other special systems are among the other measures taken to renovate and modernize the destroyer".

"The 40-mm cannon mounted on the destroyer is also among advanced artilleries in air defense," he stressed.

Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

Iran's naval power has even been acknowledged by foes. In a Sep. 11, 2008 report, the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy said that in the two decades since the Iraqi imposed war on Iran, the Islamic Republic has excelled in naval capabilities and is able to wage unique asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces.

According to the report, Iran's Navy has been transformed into a highly motivated, well-equipped, and well-financed force and is effectively in control of the world's oil lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz.

By Fars News Agency

 

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