Azerbaijan, Baku, April 17 / Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
Iran will be substituting Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems with those of domestically made in Iran, country's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said told journalists during the national army day military parade in Tehran today, Fars reported.
The Islamic Republic hosted a massive military parade today, as part of celebrating country's National Army day. Many officials, including president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Police Chief Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam, along with IRGC's generals and foreign attaches were present at the parade.
Vahidi noted that some results have been achieved already, and the work in this direction will continue.
Iran has been developing a long-range air defense system for several years and first tested it in 2010. Some military experts speculated that the technology may have been borrowed from China.
The S-300 was developed in the Soviet Union in the late 1970s and has a range of up to 150 kilometers. It can hit aircraft, cruise missiles and even ballistic missiles, and track up to 24 targets simultaneously.
The system was supplied to a number of other nations. A deal with Iran was reportedly signed in 2007, but was never finalized. The contract, which would have allowed Iran protect its crucial nuclear facilities from a possible air strike, was vocally objected to by Israel and its allies.
The sale was canceled in June 2010 due to a set of sanctions imposed against Teheran by the UN Security Council. The international security body mounted pressure to force Iran to make its nuclear and ballistic missile programs more transparent.
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