Iran has announced newer versions of its locally-made mobile missile system Bavar-373,
which is expected to be equivalent to the Russian S-400 Triumf.
“New editions of the Bavar-373 are coming,
and soon, a new edition that may be at the same or higher level than S400
will be unveiled,” Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Mahdi Farahi said on Sunday.
Iran displayed its Bavar-373 missile system in August 2019.
The mobile missile defense system is designed to intercept and destroy
incoming hostile aerial targets and has a maximum range of 300 kilometers.
Bavar-373 can simultaneously detect up to 300 targets,
track 60 targets at once and engage six targets at a time.
Bavar 373’s search and intercept radars can defeat electronic warfare and electromagnetic bombs.
The radars can also detect anti-radiation missiles (ARM), which are used to destroy air defenses.
On August 17, an Army spokesperson had said
that a simulator for the Barav-373 system would soon be unveiled.
Touching on Iran’s technological achievements,
Esmaili said Iranian scientists have manufactured an over-the-horizon
(OTH) radar with a range of 3,000 kilometers so that the country "can feel the enemy's breath."
On Saturday, the new defense minister Amir Hatami said Iran has "a specific
plan to boost missile power," adding he hoped "the combat capabilities of
Iran's ballistic and cruise missiles" would increase in the next four years.
Elsewhere in his comments, Esmaili said Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base had issued
warnings to US reconnaissance aircraft on two separate occasions on March 21 and August 26.
In the first incident, an American U2 spy plane capable of flying up to
80,000 feet was given a warning at the same time by two radar stations of the
Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base as it was confirmed to be approaching Iran's borders.
"The aircraft's pilot whose uniform was designed not to reflect the radar's waves had to respond
because the missile defense systems of the Air Defense Base and Air Force
fighters as well as IRGC’s drones were ready to confront it," Esmaili said.
"In another case at 6:30 a.m. on August 26 this year, an American RQ-4 aircraft was warned by
the Air Defense Base. We do not allow such filthy aircraft to enter our territory and,
if necessary, we do not hesitate in destroying them," he added.
In recent years, Iran has upgraded its military capabilities, including its air defense system,
through deploying both indigenous and foreign weapons systems.
The Islamic Republic practices a military doctrine of deterrence.
A senior Iranian commander says the domestically-built Bavar-373 air
defense system has been tested and will be employed alongside
the Russian-made S-300 missile defense system by March 2018.
Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, the commander of the Iranian Army’s Khatam
al-Anbiya Air Defense Base, said during a TV program on Saturday that all of the
Bavar-373 sub-systems have been completed and its missile tests have been conducted.
The Bavar-373 “is made completely in Iran and some of its parts
are different from those of S-300,” he said, adding the country wants to
use the Bavar-373 alongside the Russian S-300 system which it received in 2016.
The Bavar-373 will be handed over to Khatam al-Anbiya Air
Defense Base by the end of the new Persian calendar year in March 2018
and put into operation as soon as it is delivered to the base, he said.
Thursday marked the second day of the large-scale drills, codenamed Modafe’an-e Aseman-e
Velayat 99 (Guardians of Velayat Sky 99), underway in an area covering more than half of the country.
Air defense divisions of Iran’s Army and Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
(IRGC) are participating in the joint aerial maneuvers.
During its first-ever presence in a military maneuver, the Bavar-373 air defense system
fired surface-to-air missiles at standoff targets, successfully eliminating them.
Bavar-373 — which was unveiled in August 2019 — is a mobile missile
defense system designed to intercept and destroy incoming hostile targets.
The system employs missiles that have a maximum range of 300 kilometers.
The system is capable of simultaneously detecting up to 300 targets,
tracking 60 targets at once and engaging six targets at a time.
Bavar 373 has two search and intercept radars,
which can resist electronic warfare and electromagnetic bombs. In addition, the radars
are capable of detecting anti-radiation missiles (ARM) that are used to confront air defenses.
Second Brigadier General Abbas Farajpour, the spokesman for the maneuvers,
praised the country’s breakthroughs in developing state-of-the-art missile defense systems,
warning enemies against any aggression.
“Today, our enemies know that in the event of any aggression, even a small one,
against our country’s airspace, they will face a huge barrage of
fire from the defense systems of the Army and the IRGC,” he said.