Army Commander: Iranian Air Defense Force Ready to Confront Any Threat

Iranian Army Commander Major General Seyed Abdolrahim Mousavi declared preparedness of the country’s Air Force to confront any threat by enemies.

“Today, the Army Air Defense Force, equipped with the advanced and sophisticated systems, is ready to face any threat under the auspices of interaction and cooperation with other sectors of the Armed Forces,” General Mousavi said in a message on Wednesday on the occasion of National Day of Air Defense.

Today, Iran’s Army Air Defense is equipped with the world’s most modern radar, missile and drone systems, which are the products of Iranian experts and elites cooperating with the Army Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he added.

Under the auspices of interaction, cooperation and synergy with other sectors of the Armed Force especially Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the Army Air Defense is ready to confront any threat orchestrated against the Islamic Republic of Iran within the framework of an integrated air defense network system.

The Iranian Army’s Air Defense Force on Wednesday unveiled a new home-made 3D phased-array radar and a weapons command and control center.

The first project unveiled on Wednesday in the presence of the Army’s Air Defense Force Commander Brigadier General Alireza Sabahi Fard was ‘Alborz’, a 3D phased-array radar developed with the aim of intercepting and detecting long-range stealth flying targets with low radar cross-section.

The maximum radar range of the system is 450km and it is able to identify targets at low altitude.

Alborz radar is also able to track 300 targets simultaneously.

The next project unveiled on Wednesday was ‘Borhan’, a low-range and low-altitude weapons command and control center as the last command level in the pin-pointing defense of the command and control network of the Air Defense.

After receiving and analyzing data from all sources, Borhan transmits them to the highest levels of command to make decisions in the shortest possible time to communicate the necessary decisions to carry out the mission and destroy the target.

The system, with its effective detection and processing capability, enables the forces to deceive and destroy the air targets.

It also sends the information to missile systems by combining data received from electro-optical systems with data received from radar systems. In addition to the ability to detect the target in passive mode, Borhan also enjoys the capability to issue command to confront the enemy’s electronic jamming.

Addressing the ceremony to unveil the new projects, General Sabahi Fard described defense as the front line of confrontation against the enemy, and said, “Air defense has developed a power that it does not need other countries.”

“We can monitor all enemy bases and moves with the high power we have in Air Defense,” he said. “We can destroy targets from a distance of more than 200km.”

General Sabahi Fard said that 6 projects were unveiled on Wednesday, adding that 4 of them can be revealed to the media.

He also added that the indigenized ‘Moraqeb’ radar has started its mission on Wednesday, noting that Iran ranks first in the region in the field of Air Defense.

Iran’s Air Defense Force on Tuesday successfully test-fired the country’s home-made Mersad 16 missile system with the capability to intercept cruise missiles in the Central desert of the country.

“Mersad 16 missile system is fully indigenous and benefits from new technologies to confront electronic warfare and simultaneously intercept several hostile targets,” Deputy Commander of the Army’s Air Defense Force for Operations General Mohammad Khoshqalb said.

He added that Mersad 16 missile system was controlled for the first time by the country’s integrated defense network, adding that the Vali-e Asr Command and Control Center detected, intercepted and destroyed the targets.

General Khoshqalb described high mobility and agility as the main and unique features of the missile system, saying that Mersad 16 is able to intercept high-speed targets at low altitudes, including different types of cruise missiles.

“Mersad 16 missile system is able to detect an enemy target at any altitude and take action at any moment against it, and it transmits information about the targets to the network immediately, and the command and control center can engage directly with the system,” he said.

General Khoshqalb announced that the optimized version of Mersad 16 missile system with the capability to intercept high-speed and high-altitude targets will be unveiled soon.

Deputy Commander of Iran’s Air Defense Force Brigadier General Alireza Elhami said in August that the country’s experts had succeeded in manufacturing a large number of hi-tech radar and missile systems.

Addressing a video conference participated by a group of commanders in different provinces of Iran, General Elhami said that a variety of modern radar and missile systems have been produced inside the country through the efforts of the young Iranian experts.

He predicted a bright future for the country in the field of air defense.

“The enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran are focused on the missile issue and constantly express concern in this regard and talk about restricting it. This shows the strength of the Iranian Armed Forces in the region,” the commander said.