Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari (photo) announced that his forces plan to stage 20 wargames by February, and said the country is now capable of building fully home-made destroyers, Fars News Agency (FNA) reported.
“We will hold 20 wargames by February and if approved, the massive Velayat 95 drills will also be staged in February,” Sayyari told reporters in the Southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
Elsewhere, he underlined the Iranian experts’ capabilities to design and build different vessels, including destroyers, and said: “We can design destroyers from point zero and the designing of Damavand destroyer was fully indigenized and our Jamaran destroyer has the capability to carry helicopters and torpedoes.”
Sayyari also announced Iran’s plans to unveil different surface and subsurface vessels in the near future.
In relevant remarks in May, Sayyari blasted the US officials for their interfering comments against Iran’s wargames in the Persian Gulf, and said his forces will hold 20 specialized exercises in the current Iranian year (started on March 20).
“The Iranian Navy will have 20 specialized missile, subsurface, intelligence, etc. drills and these series of wargames will start next month with an electronic warfare exercise,” Sayyari told reporters in Tehran.
He also said the massive Velayat 95 drills will most likely be conducted next February.
Iran’s first home-made destroyer, Jamaran, was launched in late February 2010. The Mowdge Class vessel has a displacement of around 14,000 tons and is equipped with modern radars and electronic warfare capabilities and is armed with a variety of anti-ship, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.
Damavand destroyer joined the country's fleet of warships in the Caspian Sea in March 2015.
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, Rear Admiral 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, has 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 has 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.
