‘Islamic Iran’s navy building hi-tech destroyers’

A senior Iranian naval commander says the Islamic Republic has managed to acquire the state-of-the-art expertise to manufacture all sorts of destroyers.

Today, the Islamic Republic enjoys a high status in the field of building and maintaining diverse types of destroyers , Iran’s Deputy Navy Commander Rear Admiral Abbas Zamini said on Monday.

He referred to the domestically designed and manufactured Jamaran destroyer as the symbol of Iran’s advancement in defense and ship-building industry.

He reiterated that building numerous surface and subsurface destroyers, including Jarmaran-class destroyers, are currently underway at the country’s defense industries.

In addition, the Admiral noted, the production of five other naval destroyers similar and even more advanced than the Jarmaran are on Navy’s agenda.

The Iranian Navy launched its first domestically-manufactured destroyer Jarmaran in the waters of the Persian Gulf in February 2010. The vessel completed its first international mission on December 18, after conducting counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.

The 1,420-ton destroyer, which is part of the 16th fleet of Iranian warships, is equipped with modern radars and electronic warfare capabilities.

It has a top speed of up to 30 knots and a helipad. The destroyer features highly advanced anti-aircraft, anti-surface- and anti-subsurface systems. The vessel has also been equipped with torpedoes and naval cannons.

The Iranian Navy has been conducting patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 in order to safeguard merchant containers and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran or other countries.

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, is a strategic energy corridor, particularly because the Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.