The Iranian Navy's top commander, Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, has said the destroyer ‘Dena’ will join the Navy's southern fleet in about three months, and also Navy destroyers will be equipped with a vertical launching system.

Iran Press/Iran news: Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said the destroyer which has been manufactured at home, would officially join the Iranian Navy sometime in late January or February 2020.

Khanzadi had previously confirmed that Dena would "join the southern Naval fleet in the Persian Gulf," Iran Press reported.

Regarding the technological capabilities of the new destroyers, he said the two destroyers, namely Dena and Damavand, were being equipped with a vertical launch system (VLS), which is used for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines.

The top naval commander also noted that the construction of the heavy destroyer has been put on the agenda under a project known as 'Negin'.

He said that the new destroyer is expected to weigh between 5,000 and 7,000 tons, adding that the warship will be used in long-distance naval missions without any limitation.

Referring to hovercraft construction, Admiral Khanzadi said: “New Pirozan hovercrafts that are equipped with new missile and torpedo systems are being manufactured by engineers and experts of the Navy.”

Khanzadi said, “Our hovercrafts are also equipped with cutting-edge systems which enable the craft to fire torpedoes.” 

The Navy commander further said, “It is not necessary to send an aircraft carrier to face the enemies’ aircraft carries, instead a force can use an effective submarine, including domestically-made Qadir class submarine whose destructive torpedoes can force the aircraft carrier to retreat.” 

In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and hardware.

Iran’s Navy commander further said that the naval forces of Iran, China and Russia will soon stage a joint wargame in the northern Indian Ocean.

He added that the preliminary planning for the wargame was done last month and the forces were currently getting prepared for staging the drill.

“After this wargame, there will be another one with the naval forces of the Indian Ocean littoral states, which will be held within the framework of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), in a bid to promote convergence among the navies and achieve security in this region through collective contributions from all forces situated there,” he added.

He went on to say the Iranian Armed Forces are highly capable, and the US does not have the courage for a direct confrontation with Iran, and that is why it uses proxy agents, such as terrorist groups, to advance its goals.

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