A high-ranking military commander announced plans to deploy a domestically-designed and manufactured missile system in the central part of the country to improve its air defense power.
Lieutenant General Farzad Esmaeili, commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base, said the fully-indigenous Talash (Endeavor) air defense missile system will be positioned in Dasht-e Kavir desert area in the near future and, together with the mid-range Mersad missile defense system, will fully defend the skies over the region, Press TV reported on Tuesday.
The Talash missile system can intercept and strike targets such as surveillance planes and unmanned aerial vehicles flying either at low, medium or high altitudes.
The defense system comes in three variants: Talash 1, Talash 2 and Talash 3. While Talash 1 is employed at low and medium altitudes, Talash 2 is used at medium to high altitudes and Talash 3 at high and very high altitudes.
Talash 1 and 2 use high-altitude and solid-fuel Sayyad 2 (Hunter 2) missiles. Talash 2 was later upgraded and synced up with Russian-built and medium-to-high altitude S-200 missiles. The upgraded system was then dubbed Talash 3.
Last year, however, Iranian defense technicians and experts removed S-200 missiles from the feeder assembly of Talash 3 and replaced them with Sayyad 3 missile that has features similar to those of S-200.
Each unit of the Talash missile defense system includes three vehicles, a truck carrying Patriot-style missile launchers and two command and control vehicles.
In recent years, the Islamic Republic has made significant advances in indigenizing its defense sector. The country maintains that its military might poses no threat to other countries, as its defense doctrine is only based on deterrence.
