Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has taken delivery of a range of domestically-designed and manufactured military equipment, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis warship that features sophisticated radar-evading technologies.
They were inducted during a ceremony attended by IRCG chief Major General Hossein Salami, IRGC Navy chief Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, and other senior state and military officials in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas Saturday.
The Abu Mahdi Muhandis has been named after the former deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units who was assassinated along with top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike ordered by former President Donald Trump at Baghdad airport in early January 2020.
Speaking at the ceremony, Tangsiri said the warship has a naval endurance of 14 days, and can cruise within a radius of 2,000 nautical miles without being detected by enemy radars and reconnaissance systems.
It relies on four homegrown propulsion systems, and can stay afloat under force six conditions and carry out naval missions under force five conditions thanks to its advanced homegrown hull design, he added.
Tangsri said three domestic knowledge-based companies are involved in the development of vessels for the IRGC Navy. It took 15 months for Abu Mahdi Muhandis warship to be manufactured, he added.
Iranian specialists at the IRGC Navy are set to produce at least three warships of the same class in less than a year, Tangsiri said.
Tangsiri touched on Tareq-class and Ashura-class vessels equipped with Kowsar medium-range and anti-ship missiles.
Tareq-class vessels could fire only rockets up until now, but they can now launch missiles with a range of 180 kilometers, he stated.
The commander said Kowsar missiles mounted on Ashura vessels have been paired with three-dimensional radars that can detect and shoot down hostile planes, helicopters and cruise missiles at high altitudes.
The IRGC Navy also took delivery of new reconnaissance vessels as well as fast attack craft and vessels equipped with torpedo launch systems on Saturday, Tangsiri stated.
