“Destroyer Damavand will be sent to Russia in the form of a flotilla of warships,” Commander of Iran's Northern Navy Fleet Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad told Fars News Agency (FNA).
According to reports, the Russian Navy whose fleet of warships had earlier this month berthed in Iran's Anzali port and staged joint naval drills with Iranian warships invited Tehran to send a fleet of warships to Russia's Astarakhan port in the near future.
Damavand was also present in the joint naval wargames with Russia earlier this week.
Iran's home-made destroyer, 'Damavand', joined the country's fleet of warships in the Caspian Sea early March.
The second-generation and highly-equipped Iranian destroyer joined the country's Northern fleet in a ceremony participated by Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, Secretary of Iran's National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari and Head of the Self-Sufficiency Jihad Department of the Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Ali Qolamzadeh.
In an interview with FNA at the time, Qolamzadeh elaborated on the features and specifications of Damavand, and said, “The 7-story destroyer is 90 meters in length and armed with advanced anti-surface and anti-subsurface weapons and air defense systems to defend itself.”
Noting that the home-made 'Asr' phased array radar system, capable of detecting and identifying targets with a radar cross section of 4 meters in a 200km distance, had been mounted on the destroyer, he said, “Base-controlled radars, a highly advanced propulsion and command-and-control systems which enjoy high power and capability are only a few of the systems mounted on Damavand destroyer.”
Qolamzadeh said in addition to combat operations, Damavand could also be used for training and naval missions, adding that it had been equipped with systems to be used for electronic warfare.
“The operational radius of Damavand is so vast that it can sufficiently be used for all naval missions in the Caspian Sea,” he underlined.
Source: FNA
