Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan announced his country's plans to increase the range of its newly-unveiled Qadir cruise missile and also test-fire the long-range Sayyad (Hunter) 3 missile in the near future.

Dehqan made the remarks in a televised interview with Iran's state-run TV on Sunday night after the Iranian Armed Forces unveiled their latest indigenized achievements in building cruise missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in a ceremony in Tehran yesterday.

The new defensive products included two cruise missiles named Qadir and Nasr-e Basir as well as an interceptor drone, Karrar 4, and another drone used for photogrammetry missions called Mohajer 4.

Qadir is a new generation of cruise missiles capable of destroying marine targets with high precision and power within the range of 300km. It can be fired from coasts and vessels both.

Nasr-e Basir marine cruise enjoys high agility and operational power with its central explorer warhead finding targets through a smart program, and it conducts its mission noise-free.

"These two types of missiles will be delivered to the Navy, while Qadir missiles will be upgraded to (create a new generation called) Moqtader missiles next year and its range will also be doubled," Dehqan said, adding that the two missiles are also resistant to electronic warfare.

Stressing that Iran is enjoying the best defense systems, he said, "We have test-fired Sayyad 2, a mid-range and high-altitude missile, and we will test-fire Sayyad 3 which is a long-range and high-altitude missile in the near future; hence, these two missiles will protect our skies at all altitudes against threats."

Sayyad 2 is a missile for mid-range and high-altitude air defense systems, designed based on the state-of-the-art technologies which can destroy different types of helicopters, drones and targets with small radar cross-section and high speed and maneuverability within its operational range.

Iran had earlier unveiled Sayyad 1 surface-to-air missile which is a two-staged air defense missile that is capable of destroying targets with low Radar Cross Section (RCS) at low and medium altitudes.

The system enjoys the capability to defuse jamming and electronic warfare attacks.

Sayyad 2 is an upgraded version and enjoys higher precision, range and destruction power compared with its previous version.

Iran announced in August 2013 that it has used the latest home-made missile production, Sayyad 2, in its sophisticated S-200 anti-aircraft system.

Source: FNA