Iranian Defense Ministry Plans to Boost Aerospace Capabilities This Year

Iran’s Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said rapid growth and expansion of aerospace technology tops the agenda of his ministry in the new Iranian year (started on March 21).

“This year, the Defense Ministry’s first priority will be acquiring new products and technologies and its aerospace program will be expanded,” Vahidi said.

Vahidi further touched his ministry’s achievements in the last Iranian year, and said, “Last year, the Ministry of Defense succeeded in acquiring a variety of new weapons and equipment to equip the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Armed Forces.”

He stated that Iran’s home-grown capabilities have not only made the country self-sufficient in various fields, but also given it the ability to help other countries.

Vahidi mentioned that the Defense Ministry was also successful in diversifying its rocket, missile, sea, electronic and optics programs and made noticeable progress in its aerospace work last year.

In similar remarks earlier this month, another senior Iranian military official underlined Tehran’s advanced capabilities in manufacturing military tools, equipment and weapons, and stressed Iran’s preparedness to share its capabilities with the other countries.

“One of the biggest and most important accomplishments of the Iranian Army’s Command and General Staff College (DAFOS AJA) is the indigenous military and tactical science in Iran,” Commander of the Islamic Republic’s University of Military Science Brigadier General Hossein Valivand said mid march.

Today, the focus of the courses taught at DAFOS College has shifted from Western texts to indigenous material.

Valivand said the curriculum at DAFOS College is based on the experiences gained from the eight-year Iraqi-imposed war on Iran and various military combats in the region over the past three decades.

Iran has taken wide strides in designing and manufacturing different types of light, semi-heavy and heavy weapons, military tools and equipment.

Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country’s military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.