Iran Unveils New Domestically-Built Military Equipment

Iran unveiled a series of domestically-made military equipment on Thursday, during a ceremony on Thursday which was attended by President Hassan Rouhani and Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan. According to Tasnim News Agency, the equipment included radar systems for detection of targets at various altitudes, navigation systems used in both military and civil airports, maritime navigation equipment, and technologies for making smart weapons.

Comment: While the 2015 nuclear deal rolled back Iran’s nuclear activity, the Islamic Republic has accelerated its efforts to modernize its military and enhance domestic production of military equipment. At present, the Iranian military is still dependent on Russia, China, North Korea and other foreign suppliers to procure much of its requirement for military equipment. Based on Khamenei’s guidelines, the Iranian military has recently put particular focus on producing military weapons and other equipment at home and reduce the country's dependence on foreign suppliers to a minimum.

Last year, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had stressed that “Iran's defensive capability and power must be increased so that the bullying powers would feel threatened.” In addition to meeting military needs domestically, the Iranian military also seeks to become a major arms exporter in the future. In January, Dehghan announced that the Islamic Republic was ready to export small-caliber ammunition to foreign countries. “By inaugurating and launching this production line, in addition to meeting all needs of the armed forces to small-caliber ammunition, the production capacity for such ammunition has doubled and the ground is paved to export it as well.”