Iranian Navy plans to add two new home-made Mowdge-class destroyers to its fleet in the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2014), a senior commander announced on Saturday.

Mowdge 2 and Mowdge 3 destroyers will join the Navy in the current year," Commander of the Iranian Navy's Northern Fleet Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad told FNA on Saturday.

He noted that one of the destroyers has been built in Northern Iran and the other one in the Southern parts of the country.

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

On Wednesday, Admiral Rezayee Haddad announced that the Iranian Navy plans to launch one of its advanced home-made destroyers, named Damavand, in the country's territorial waters in the current year.

"The Damavand destroyer will join Iran's naval fleet this year to upgrade the Navy's combat capabilities," Admiral Rezayee Haddad said, addressing the commanders and staff of the Navy's Fourth Naval Zone.

He didn’t reveal any more details about the features and specifications of the destroyer or the exact date of its launch.

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.

In June 2013, Iran launched its overhauled and modernized destroyer named Bayandor in the Southern waters of the country in the presence of Army Commander Major General Ataollah Salehi and Rear Admiral Sayyari.

Army officials said the Iranian Navy's power of safeguarding the country's territorial waters as well as maintaining security in regional and international waters will increase after the launch of Bayandor.

Overhauling the main engines, heat exchangers and fuel and oil systems as well as optimizing the monitoring control systems are among the measures adopted before launching the destroyer.

Navy experts have also mounted a fire control system for the destroyer's weapons, a 76-mm and a 40-mm canons and a surface-to-surface Nour (Light) missile system on the destroyer.

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.
 

News ID 186535