Iran Press/Iran news: Raising Iran's military and defense position in the world from the 23rd to the 14th in a situation where Iran has been under severe arms sanctions for years was possible only in one case, and that is national determination and willpower as well as reliance on indigenous forces' power. The Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, as one of the most important foundations of this promotion, has redoubled its efforts in the direction of self-sufficiency of military and defense equipment and has been able to play an undeniable role in this regard.
The eight years of the imposed war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, although accompanied by many destructions and bitterness, provided the same amount of great experience to the military forces of the country to concretely examine their strengths and weaknesses; one of these critical points was the defense of the country's air borders.
During the war years, the Islamic Republic could not buy its needs from other countries due to global sanctions, while almost all countries of the world provided Saddam Hussein with any weapon that he needed. Describing the experienced conditions, it may be significant to review Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's response to a Japanese reporter on Iran's missile program in April 2016. "You did not suffer an eight-year war when your cities were targeted by chemical warheads, and you did not even have a single missile to deal with. If we had, maybe Saddam Hussein would have stopped his attacks.
We would have moved from one country to another, and beg for a Scud missile to defend our people," Zarif addressed the meeting. "We dream of a day when no one invests in such weapons. We are far ahead of others because we spend as much of their military budgets on weapons."
In the path of self-sufficiency of the Ministry of Defense, quantitative and qualitative development of missiles due to their significant role and position in defense strategy as a deterrent weapon and the country's missile production capacity increased significantly. The quality of the manufactured missiles, ie, parameters such as precise targeting capability, explosive power, and maneuverability of ballistic missiles, was also improved considerably. Not only were all the new production missiles equipped with the precise targeting system, but also the previous generations were upgraded.
Hence, the targeting capability of surface-to-surface cruise missiles reached a range of 1600 km and that of the sea and anti-ship cruise missiles got a range of more than 1000 km.
Another portion of the government's resources has been devoted to the construction and upgrading of military aircraft and fighters, the localization of aircraft, and the full cycle of pilot training in the aviation industry. In this regard, the mass production line of the first all-Iranian Kosar fighter jet was inaugurated in November 2018, and in August of this year, the Minister of Defense, Brigadier General "Amir Hatami" announced the mass production of the above fighter jet.
The fact is that today air defense is no less important than missile power. Air defense is not limited to the protection of military infrastructure but has a significant mission in defending the economic infrastructure of the country, the people, and civilian places. Every country faces a variety of threats in this area, from small birds to cruise and ballistic missiles and advanced stealth aircraft. Dealing with these threats requires a proper weapons system. In recent years, there has been a special focus on this industry and several types of research, development, and production projects have been launched, many of which have been completed in recent years, and another part will be completed soon.
Acquiring the ability to produce aircraft engines is another honor of the defense industry. In this regard, the technology of jet and turbojet engines has been wholly localized and the production line of the first national turbojet engine was inaugurated by the President this year on the occasion of Defense Industry Day. Good progress has also been made in the localization of turbofan engines so that the light type of these engines was unveiled on the day of the defense industry. Today, the Armed Forces, in addition to designing and building fighter jets and training aircraft, also has the ability to design and build heavy transport aircraft.
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