Commander of the Iranian Army Major General Ataollah Salehi announced on Wednesday that Iran is prepared to carry out a comprehensive air defense plan to protect the country's entire airspace. "The plan has been drawn by the personnel of the Air Defense Base and completed in the General Staff of the Armed Forces and will be put into action in a five-year-long period once it is approved by the General Commander of the Armed Forces (Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei)," Salehi said. He also reiterated that the Army will make its utmost efforts to produce the tools, weapons and equipment needed for defending the country's airspace during the aforementioned period. In February 2009, Iran formed an Air Defense Force as a part of its Air Force restructuring to boost the country's defense capabilities. Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani told reporters at the time that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei had ordered the air force be split into an Air Force and an Air Defense Force.
"Now, we are separating these two sections and, thus, the Islamic Republic's Army will be split into 4 independent forces, including the Ground Force, the Air Force, the Navy and the Air Defense Force," Miqani said. "Formation of an independent air defense unit is aimed at boosting the combat capability and expanding the air defense combat capability of the country," Miqani said. The decision has enabled Iran to allocate an independent budget to the task and initiate several programs in line with the development of the country's air defense capability. Several months later, Lieutenant Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base General Seyed Reza Taheri told FNA that Iran has successfully increased the speed and range of its air defense systems. "The air defense systems' operational speed and range have been promoted, thanks to the attempts made by our country's experts. We are witnessing a jump in this field when considering the previous models," Taheri told FNA in November 2009.
He said that new defensive tactics were grown based on the battlefield conditions experienced in the countrywide wargames codenamed as 'Modafean-e Aseman-e-Velayat 2 (Sky Defenders 2)', and added that Iranian forces operationalized mobility and speed in moving the systems - most of them are mobile - in battlefield. "Utilization of new and optimized air defense systems is another feature of the drills," Taheri added at the time. He underlined that indigenous systems whose range and speed have been increased are able to confront any type of threat. "The air defense forces are present anywhere and anytime with full preparedness and are monitoring any kind of movement in the region and we will destroy any threat instantly and powerfully," Taheri added.
To the same end, Iranian Defense Minister announced in April 2010 that Iran had built the first home-made mid-range missile defense system named 'Mersad'. "The Mersad air defense system that is ready for delivery to the Air Defense Base is a mid-range defense system capable of destroying advanced airplanes in low and mid altitudes," Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi told reporters on April 11, 2010. Noting that the Mersad defense system enjoys superior and more capabilities than its western rivals like the Hag mid-range defense system, Vahidi reiterated that Mersad is resistant to electronic warfare and can be used as part of a network of radar and air defense systems. "The Mersad missile defense system is comprised of different target tracing
and tracking radars, soft and hardware networks, launch pads for Shahin missiles and a command-and-control center," he added. Also in May, Vahidi inaugurated the production line of a powerful missile defense shield which can destroy incoming cruise missiles. "Mesbah (Lantern) 1 air-defense system is designed and built to counter air attacks, different kinds of airplanes, cruise missiles, choppers and other air threats in low altitudes," he said at the time. Meantime, Air Defense Commander of Iran's Southern Zone General Qanbar Ali Salahian told FNA in June that Iran's home-made air defense system is so sophisticated and advanced that it can show swift and precise reaction to any possible threat and aggression by enemies.
Referring to the capabilities of the air defense system in his zone, he said that at present a new Iranian radar system has replaced its western rivals in the Southern zone which can cover the entire Persian Gulf region.
"Our radar and missile systems cover not just the Persian Gulf, but also the outskirts of the Persian Gulf littoral states," Salahian added at the time.
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