Iran building new battleships, destroyers

Iranian experts and engineers are working on new models of missile-launching battleships and destroyers, a senior Navy commander announced on Saturday. "We have built Mowdge-2 class destroyer, also known as Damavand, which was launched in the Northern waters of the country and  we have more destroyers under construction now," Deputy Commander of the Navy for Technical Affairs Rear Admiral Abbas Zamini said on Saturday. "Construction of Peykan-class missile-launching battleships is on our agenda as well," he added. In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems. 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. Iranian defense ministry officials had said earlier that the third generation of the home-made vessel, Jamaran-3 destroyer, will come into operation by the end of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2013 - March 20, 2014). Iran in late 2012 boosted its naval power in Persian Gulf waters after a new missile launching vessel and two light submarines joined its Navy fleet. The body of Sina-7 missile-launching frigate was launched in a ceremony in Iran's Southern port city of Bandar Abbas on the occasion of the National Day of Navy. During the ceremony attended by Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, two Qadir-class light submarines also joined the Iranian naval fleet.