Military Official: Iran Equipped with Capability to Build Aircraft Carriers

“We are capable of building 200m-long warships, warships double the size of Jamaran (home-made destroyer) or aircraft carriers if the government does the budgeting,” Communications Bureau Chief of the Chief Commander of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Abbas Sedehi announced on Sunday.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems, including destroyers.

Iran’s first home-made destroyer, Jamaran, was launched in late February 2010. The Mowdge Class vessel has a displacement of around 14,000 tons and is equipped with modern radars and electronic warfare capabilities and is armed with a variety of anti-ship, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.

‘Damavand’ destroyer joined the country’s fleet of warships in the Caspian Sea in March 2015.

In relevant remarks last month, Deputy Commander of the Iranian Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced that the country’s most state-of-the-art destroyer, ‘Sahand’, will be launched in the next Iranian year (to start on March 21, 2018).

“Sahand will join the Navy next year,” Rear Admiral Sayyari, Iran’s former Navy commander, was quoted as saying by the Iranian media.

Rear Admiral Sayyari also said that the Navy experts are now working on a new destroyer named ‘Shiraz’ which will be launched after Sahand.