Iran-Made Anti-Stealth Aircraft Radar to Go on Stream in Coming Months

(FNA)- A senior Iranian air-defense commander underlined the vital importance of his forces' new defensive achievements for boosting the country's deterrent power, and announced that a home-made radar system which is able to detect stealth aircraft will start operation early in September.

“A radar system special to detecting stealth aircraft, which has been developed by young and specialist (Iranian) forces despite conditions caused by (US-engineered) sanctions, will be used to counter stealth aircraft,” Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli said on Saturday.

The commander added that the radar system will be unveiled on September 1, which marks the establishment anniversary of the defense base.

Iran in February unveiled 21 radar and electronic defense projects in a ceremony participated by Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan.

“Today, we are witnessing inauguration of 5 production lines and unveiling of 16 defense projects,” Dehqan told reporters in the Southern city of Shiraz.

He said 2 radar systems for defensive surveillance, which are among the advanced detection radars for high-altitude air surveillance, are ready for being delivered to the Iranian Armed Forces.

Also in the field of radar subsystems, 2 important military lights, one x-ray lamp and a 5-liter oxygen converter for the cockpit have been manufactured, Dehqan said.

He also said that Iran has launched 6 important and strategic products in air and naval electronic fields, including sonar, subsurface telecommunication and ground systems, ground antenna and air computers installed on aircrafts and radars to identify friendly aircraft from enemies.

The Iranian defense minister also said that the country’s experts have built a smart disruptive radar system which can to jam different radar waves and certain missile guidance subsystems.

Iran announced on December 10 that it plans to unveil a newly-developed advanced radar with a high target detection capability which is part of a new air defense system.

“The powerful Arash radar is one of the most important achievements of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base which will be unveiled (in the Eastern part of Iran),” Esmayeeli said at the time.

Stressing the indigenized nature of the radar, Esmayeeli said that Arash has been designed and built by the young Iranian scientists at Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base.

“The radar has high capability in detecting and identifying targets and in electronic warfare,” he added.

The commander declined to reveal any more data or information about the details of the new air defense shield or the new radar system.

Also in September, Iran displayed a new home-made passive phased array radar system for detecting stealth targets and cruise missiles.

The passive phased array radar system was developed by the experts of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base to detect mobile targets at any altitude, track stealth targets and estimate their arrival speed and targets.

The tactical radar system which can be installed and put into operation in a short period of time do not emit any radar waves and therefore cannot be detected by the enemy. That's why they are called Silent Radar Systems.

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

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.