Iran developing air defence systems based on futuristic approach

Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli announced that Iran is mulling plans to develop its air defense systems based on the possible threats which might be posed to the country in the next five years. "Today, the air defense is moving forward concurrently with new threats and what is going on around us shows that we should make the air defense ready to confront the threats not only of the present time but of the next five years," Esmayeeli said in a ceremony in Tehran on Sunday. He downplayed the effects of the western sanctions on the progress of Iran's defense industry, and announced that Iran's air defense is implementing 15 operational projects now. In relevant remarks earlier today, another senior Iranian commander underlined the country's high level of military deterrence, and said the country's air defense is making rapid progress in accordance with the advancements made in hit-tech enemy fighter jets. "The more advanced enemy fighters grow, the more sophisticated and advanced the Iranian air defense will be," Commander of the Eastern Zone of Iran's Air Defense Malek Ali Asadifar said in the Eastern city of Birjand on Sunday. In relevant remarks in mid-May, Esmayeeli said his forces are fully prepared to defend the country against threats in the region. Speaking during a visit to the country's Southwestern Air Defense Zone at the time, he pointed to Iran's eye-catching growth in air defense systems in recent years, and stated that Iran's air defense capability is so advanced that it is not comparable to what it could do during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran in 1980s. "At present, the air defense unit's capability, capacity and expertise can defuse any threat existing in the region," Esmayeeli stressed, adding that the air defense forces enjoy a "desirable" level of preparedness. In November, different systems with the capability of intercepting incoming cruise missiles as well as optimized and indigenized air defense missiles were tested in the massive aerial exercises code-named 'Modafe'an-e Aseman-e Velayat 4 (Defenders of Velayat Skies 4)'. The advanced home-made Ya Zahra air defense missile system was among the systems tested in the wargames. The air defense weapon is capable of identifying, intercepting and destroying aerial targets, including different types of aircraft, choppers and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Ya Zahra is a mobile system and can be linked to the country's integrated air defense network and is capable of engaging and destroying several aerial targets simultaneously and also has a powerful fast reaction and full detection capabilities. During the wargames, Iran also tested a variety of missile systems, including anti-cruise weapons. Also artilleries, shoulder-launched weapons and low-altitude missile systems were used in the military drills. Iranian air defense units also exercised targeting Unmanned Aerial Vehicles with anti-aircraft Hawk missiles. The missile was fired by a mobile air defense system on a missile-launching vehicle.