Iran to build supersonic maritime cruise missiles soon: Dehqan

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan says the country plans to produce marine cruise missiles with supersonic speed in the near future.

“We have greatly increased the range of our marine cruise missiles and currently possess missiles with a range of 200 kilometers which are anti-ship and anti-surface,” Dehqan said in a ceremony in Tehran on Sunday to unveil Iran's first turbojet engine which will be used in aircraft.

He added that the country has succeeded in taking major steps in the development of marine cruise missiles and has doubled or even tripled the range of all its missiles and made efforts to diversify their applications.

“We have succeeded in changing the strategic systems of cruise missiles and increasing the power of their engines and ranges,” Dehqan said, adding that the missiles can now hit the targets at a distance of 100 kilometers.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian defense minister stated that the country has taken great strides in producing torpedoes, noting that the first consignment of home-made torpedoes would be delivered to the naval forces in the current Iranian calendar year (ending March 20, 2017) in a bid to boost their power in confrontation with any possible threat.

He added that Iran has produced high-speed vessels proportionate to its needs and put into operation a vessel which is capable of achieving speeds in excess of 60 knots.

Iranian experts are also capable of manufacturing various strategic products in electronics industries, which can be used in air defense bases of the Army and other units of the Iranian Armed Forces, Dehqan said.

On January 29, the Iranian Navy successfully test-fired surface-to-surface cruise missiles, dubbed Nour (Light), with a range of 150 kilometers during large-scale naval exercises in Makran coastal zone, east of the Strait of Hormuz.

The country’s naval forces test-fired the missiles on the third day of military maneuvers, code-named Velayat 94, across a large swathe of territorial waters and high seas in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Indian Ocean. Nour cruise missile could be launched both from sea and surface.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization affiliated with the Ministry of Defense on August 25, 2015 launched the production line of an air-launched cruise missile, dubbed Nasr (Victory), in a bid to upgrade the country's deterrence. Iran’s Defense Ministry delivered the first batch of the cruise missile to the country’s Air Force on February 9.

In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems.

Iran has also conducted other major military drills to enhance the defense capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and state-of-the-art army equipment.

The Islamic Republic maintains that its military might poses no threat to other countries, stating that its defense doctrine is merely based on deterrence.

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