Tehran: Iran marked the Defence Industry Day by launching a number of military hardware and projects.
In a virtual ceremony on Thursday attended by President Hassan Rouhani and Defence Minister Amir Hatami, two long-range missiles were unveiled, Xinhua news agency reported.
The missiles were named after Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, former deputy chief of Iraq’s Hashd Shaabi forces, who were both killed in a U.S drone strike in Iraq in January.
The ballistic missile, named after Soleimani, has a range of 1,400 km, while the other named al-Muhandis is a cruise missile with a range of 1,000 km.
Rouhani highlighted the significance of cruise missile for Iran’s defence industry, urging the Defence Ministry to boost the country’s cruise missile capacity.
“The fact that we have increased the range from 300 to 1,000 in fewer than two years shows that Iran is on the path of production and self-sufficiency in this field,” Rouhani was quoted as saying.
On Thursday, the Defence Ministry also launched the production line of indigenous jet engine which will be used in the country’s first home-made fighter jet named Kowsar.
Hatami announced that three more Kowsar jets will be soon delivered to the Air Force.
Besides, he said three training jets of Yasin, A-90 and Fajr-3 designed and developed by the Iranian experts have undergone final tests and will soon join the service.
Iran is self-sufficient in producing more than 90 per cent of its defence hardware, he was quoted by official IRNA news agency as saying.
Meanwhile, President Rouhani said Iran’s military products, including the ballistic missiles, are developed for deterrent purposes, posing no threat to any country in the region, IRNA reported.
“We don’t intend to occupy any place. We don’t want to harm any nation. Our neighbours should rest assured that our defence power is in their interest.”
Rouhani called on the Iranian experts to invest more in the development of cheap and helpful unmanned aerial vehicles.
