Iran to unveil upgraded Zolfaqar tank

TEHRAN,Jan.16(MNA) – Iran will unveil an upgraded version of the domestically manufactured Zolfaqar tank on the occasion of the Ten-Day Dawn, Army Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan announced on Tuesday. The Ten-Day Dawn, which will be celebrated from January 31 to February 10 this year across the country, commemorates the anniversary of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979. Pourdastan said that the fire control system and the stabilizer of the new version of the Zolfaqar tank have been upgraded, adding that the tank will be mass-produced after receiving the approval of the office of the chief of the general staff of the armed forces. The Zolfaqar tank is Iran’s main domestically manufactured battle tank. The tank has a distinctive box-shaped, steel-welded turret of local design. The Zolfaqar is operated by a crew of three personnel. The tank is armed with a 125 mm smoothbore gun 2A46, which is fitted with a fume extractor. Its secondary armament consists of a 7.62 mm coaxial and a 12.7 mm machine gun. ----------Iran has devised contingency plans to repel possible attacks Elsewhere in his remarks, Pourdastan said that Iranian armed forces have worked out contingency plans to repel possible military attacks on the country. “We have prepared defense plans so that forces can step in as the need arises, and we have even designated the location of surface-to-surface missiles and backup weapons,” he stated. In view of the fact that asymmetrical warfare tactics have been used in recent wars, the contingency plans have been devised based on an asymmetrical warfare strategy, he added.