Islamic Iran Mass-Producing Ghadir Radars

Iran is mass-producing Ghadir Radar systems in great numbers, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said, adding that the radar system covers areas over 1,000 in distance.

“This radar system can cover areas around 1,100 in range and its designing and production project ended early last (Iranian) year and is now being mass-produced,” Hajizadeh told FNA in an exclusive interview on Friday.

He reminded Iran’s advanced radar technology, and said the country is manufacturing various radar systems in different frequencies and for different missions.

He said the IRGC was in charge of research and manufacturing the first prototypes these radar systems and then the defense ministry continues the project with mass producing them.

Last June, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps put into operation the new home-made long-range Ghadir radar system that enables its forces to monitor low-altitude satellites.

The Ghadir radar system which covers areas (maximum) 1,100km in distance and 300km in altitude has been designed and built to identify aerial targets, radar-evading aircrafts, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles as well as low-altitude satellites.

Last December, senior Iranian military commanders announced that the country has equipped its air defense units with advanced radars capable of detecting Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

Commander of Khatom ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli said now Iran can trace and shoot down small UAVs over its airspace.

Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli also said that air defense units are closely monitoring overflights of foreign aircraft and are fully prepared to detect and shoot down unauthorized UAVs.

Iran has locally made radar systems with different ranges up to some 1,850 miles (3,000 kilometers).

In 2010, Iranian officials announced that the country had reached self-sufficiency in producing radar systems in different frequencies and for various ranges.

Also on Friday, Hajizadeh noted the production of the Persian Gulf ballistic missiles, and said, “The research and testing phase of the Persian Gulf missile ended last year, and it is now being mass produced by the Defense Ministry.

Earlier this month, IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi underlined Iran’s high defensive capabilities and power, and said the newly developed ‘Khalij-e Fars’ (Persian Gulf) missile would make the enemies change their equations and calculations due to its unusual and unique features.

“The Khalij-e Fars missile has been developed somehow different from the usual trend and can change the equations on which the enemy most relies,” Fadavi said on Tuesday.

Referring to Iran’s missile power, he said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is now in possession of home-made missiles with the range of over 200km which can be mounted on Iranian high-speed boats.

Hajizadeh further noted the US naval deployment in the Persian Gulf, and said the Iranian Armed Forces can easily target and sink US aircraft carriers since the large vessels are very vulnerable.

“It is a misconception that an aircraft carrier can be put out of action only if it is sunk. First, sinking an aircraft carrier is not a complicated task. Second, an aircraft carrier is equipped with so many advanced, delicate, and sensitive devices… that it could be incapacitated by even the smallest explosion in every corner of it,” Hajizadeh said.

He also said that Iran uses its primitive surveillance planes to take photographs of the US aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.

As regards UN military presence in the region, Hajizadeh stated that the Islamic Republic is not concerned about the presence of US troops in the region because they do not pose a threat to Iran anymore, but rather their presence has provided an opportunity for Iranian forces.

“Today, one of our short-range missiles can function as an intercontinental missile because they have been based near us,” the commander reiterated.

The remarks by the Iranian commander came as the US launched a propaganda campaign through a number of western media outlets about the deployment of the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise along with the Abraham Lincoln carrier in waters near the Persian Gulf, implying that their deployment means a fortification of the US military presence in the region against Iran.

Meantime, Commander of the IRGC Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi stressed his forces domination and control over the US Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, and said that the American naval forces need IRGC’s permission for any move in the regional waters.

“Today, Americans admit and acknowledge that the Persian Gulf is under the tight control of the IRGC Navy,” Fadavi said on Tuesday.

“This doesn’t mean inspection (of their ships), but controlling (them). That is to say, they should receive our permission and account to us for any move they want to make,” he explained.

Elsewhere in his Friday interview with FNA, Hajizadeh announced that the country’s experts have decoded the intelligence gathering system and memory hard discs of the United States’ highly advanced RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft that was downed by Iran in December after violating the country’s airspace.

General Hajizadeh revealed some data taken from the aircraft’s intelligence system to discourage his counterparts in Pentagon who had alleged that Iranians would not succeed in decoding the spy drone’s memory and intelligence devices.

“This plane is seen as a national capital for us and our words should not disclose all the information that we have very easily.”

“Yet, I provide four cues in here to let the Americans know how deep we could penetrate into (the intelligence systems and devices of) this drone,” he added.

Hajizadeh stated that the drone parts had been transferred to California for technical works in October 2010, adding that the drone was later transferred to Kandahar, Afghanistan in November 2010 and had a flight in there.

The commander said that the drone had experienced some technical flaws in its Kandahar flight in November, but the US experts failed resolve the problems at the time.

Hajizadeh added that the RQ-170 was then sent back to an airfield near Los Angeles in December 2010 for tests on its censors and parts, adding that the drone had a number of test flights in there.

As a forth cue to prove Iran’s access to the drone’s hidden memory, the commander mentioned that the spy drone’s memory device has revealed that it had flown over Al-Qaeda Leader Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan two weeks before his death.

“Had we not accessed the plane’s soft wares and hard discs, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve these facts,” Hajizadeh said, reiterating that Iran’s military experts are in full command of the drone intel and hold a good knowledge of the drone parts and programs.

The unmanned surveillance plane lost by the United States in Iran was a stealth aircraft being used for secret missions by the CIA.

The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA’s fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.

The drone is the first such loss by the US.

The RQ-170 has special coatings and a batwing shape designed to help it penetrate other nations’ air defenses undetected. The existence of the aircraft, which is made by Lockheed Martin, has been known since 2009, when a model was photographed at the main US airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Hajizadeh noted the deployment of a NATO missile system in Turkey, and said the Turkish people should expect “babies with inborn deformities and incurable diseases” after the NATO’s planned missile shield starts operating in the country.

“In a not far future, the Muslim people of Turkey will witness their infants born with deformities, cancer and incurable diseases due to the effects of such systems,” the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh told FNA.

He also cautioned that while the Turkish people should tolerate the grave outcomes of the deployment of the missile shield in their country, this will be the Zionist regime which will make use of the operation of the missile system and the information and data collected by its radar systems.

Tehran has previously made clear its displeasure at Turkey’s agreement to deploy an early warning system for missiles, part of the NATO shield structure, on its soil.

Iranian officials have said the plan will be used as an “eye” for Israel by giving it greater surveillance over countries in the region.

The shield is intended primarily to counter perceived threats from Iran and North Korea, although Turkish officials have said the system is not aimed at any specific country.

Hajizadeh warned last year that Iran could target the missile system in Turkey if faced with a military attack.

“We have prepared ourselves if any threat is staged against Iran,” he said last November, adding, “We will target NATO’s missile shield in Turkey and will then attack other targets.”