Iran’s Navy on Saturday launched an advanced domestically-manufactured destroyer that employs radar-evading stealth technology.
In a ceremony broadcast live on state television, the Sahand destroyer, which is capable of traveling five months without resupply, joined the naval fleet at a base in the port city of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf.
The 1,300-ton vessel took six years to build. The 96-meter-long Sahand has a helipad and can cruise at 25 knots. It is equipped with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft batteries and sophisticated radar and electronic warfare systems.
“This vessel is the result of daring and creative design relying on the local technical knowhow of the Iranian Navy ... and has been built with stealth capabilities,” Rear Admiral Alireza Sheikhi, the head of naval shipyards that built the destroyer, told IRNA.
Iran launched its first locally-made destroyer in 2010, as part of a program to revamp its naval equipment.
Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry despite international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons.
Five-Month Voyage
Separately, a naval commander said Sahand may be among warships that Iran plans to send on a mission to Venezuela soon.
“Among our plans in the near future is to send two or three vessels with special helicopters to Venezuela in South America on a mission that could last five months,” Deputy Navy Commander Rear Admiral Touraj Hassani Moqaddam told Mehr News Agency.
In a meeting with Navy commanders and officials last week, Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Iran should increase its military capability and readiness to ward off enemies.
Iran’s Navy has extended its reach in recent years, launching vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates operating in the area.
On Thursday, the Navy announced the acquisition of two mini-submarines designed for operation in shallow waters such as the Persian Gulf, including one new sub and an overhauled one.
