Iran has unveiled a host of state-of-the-art defense achievements, including long-range ballistic and cruise missiles, designed and manufactured by experts at home as the Islamic Republic marks National Defense Industry Day.
Speaking at the event broadcast live on TV, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said the country had inaugurated a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 1,400 kilometers named after top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was martyred by the US military in January.
The Tasnim news agency described the latest solid-fuel ballistic missile — called Martyr Haj Qassem — as a new generation of the country’s Fateh-110 family of missiles, which is capable of confusing and penetrating the enemy’s interception systems.
The Iranian defense chief further said Iran has developed a cruise missile, named Martyr Abu Mahdi, which has a range of over 1,000 kilometers.
“The country’s achievements in the defense industry over the past four decades are not comparable to any other period,” said Hatami, describing the accomplishments as a “basis for military self-reliance and a must for [maintaining] the country’s independence.”
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also assassinated along with General Soleimani and a number of their comrades in a US drone raid near the Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
The Iranian defense chief further said that the domestically-built training jets, dubbed Yasin, A-90 and Fajr-3 are undergoing their final tests and will soon enter service.
He said that Iran has begun the mass production of its first indigenous turbo jet engine, dubbed Owj, which was unveiled in 2016.
