Iran to unveil upgraded cruise missile soon

TEHRAN,April 18(MNA) – Iran will unveil an upgraded surface-to-surface cruise missile in the near future, an Iranian Defense Ministry official told on Wednesday. “The missile is an upgraded version of previous missiles, and it will increase our defense capabilities in sea battles,” Brigadier General Mehdi Farahi said. Compared with its predecessor, the new missile is more powerful and has a longer range, he said. In addition, the general said that Iran would introduce new domestically manufactured ballistic, cruise, and anti-tank missiles during the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21. On February 24, Iran test-fired a Zafar (Victory) cruise missile in the Persian Gulf. The missile successfully hit the designated target. The production line of the domestically manufactured Zafar cruise missile was officially launched in February 2012. The Zafar is a short-range anti-vessel radar-guided cruise missile, which can hit small and medium-sized targets with high precision. The missile can be installed on various types of vessels and enjoys remarkable features such as light weight, capability to repel electronic attacks, and high destructive power. The domestically manufactured coast-to-sea Qader cruise missile was also test-fired on January1 during the Velayat-91 naval drill. The Qader cruise missile has a range of 200 kilometers and flies at a low altitude. It has a high destructive power and can target destroyers and warships. The missile can be fired from warships and the launchers deployed on the seashore.