Iran Unveils New Marine Missile, Torpedo

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled a short-range marine missile and a torpedo system Aug. 23 as Iran marked its annual "Defense Industry Day," state media reported.

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"Qader (Able) missile, built by the capable hands of Iranian experts, is a marine cruise missile with a 120 mile range, possessing high destructive ability which can be used against coastal targets and warships," the state television website reported.

Ahmadinejad also unveiled a torpedo system called "Valfajr (The Dawn) to be used by submarines.

It has a payload of 485 pounds and can be used in shallow and deep water, the website said, adding that the unveiling ceremony was held at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, which has close links to the Revolutionary Guards, the elite military force.

Ahmadinejad said Iran's arsenal was not aimed at any nations and would only be used to fend off possible aggressions.

"We do not want to use our military might to conquer lands and dominate humanity," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying in the unveiling ceremony.

"The best deterrence is that enemy does not dare aggression and must be so certain of a decisive response that it does not contemplate" an attack, he added.

"The enemy's weaponry should be grounded at deployment point and not above Tehran's sky," he added.

Both weapons were "successfully tested," the state television website said.

It quoted Defense Minister Brigadier Gen. Ahmad Vahidi as saying that Iran was now "locally" producing the equipment and weapons systems for the navy.

Iran has increased in the past two years the development, testing and unveiling of new "indigenous" military equipment, including missiles.

These weapons are always accompanied by warnings against any potential aggressor, sometimes explicitly directed at the Islamic republic's archfoes, Israel and the US forces deployed in the region.

Defense News