Iran equipping newly launched destroyer with advanced systems

TEHRAN,Oct.9(MNA) – The commander of the Iranian Navy said that the newly launched destroyer, named the Sahand, is being equipped with advanced systems. “Today, we have acquired the ability to design and manufacture destroyers, and the Sahand destroyer is one of them, which is being equipped with advanced systems,” Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told reporters on Monday. During a ceremony in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on September 18, the domestically manufactured Sahand destroyer was launched by order of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Sayyari also said that the destroyer will be delivered to the Iranian Navy after the completion of the project to equip it with advanced systems. He added that new achievements of the Navy will be unveiled during a ceremony, which will be held on November 27 to commemorate the Navy Day in Iran. On October 3, Sayyari announced that a new domestically manufactured destroyer, named the Velayat, would be launched during the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2013. The Jamaran destroyer, which was launched in 2010, is Iran’s first domestically manufactured destroyer. It can carry helicopters and is equipped with torpedoes. The warship is capable of engaging in surface, air, and undersea warfare.