TEHRAN — Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has lauded the progress made by the IRGC Ground Force’s Airborne Division in overhauling and modernizing military equipment.

In remarks on Monday, Major General Hossein Salami said the Airborne Division has achieved self-sufficiency in manufacturing components as well as modernizing and overhauling of aircraft, Tasnim reported.

He said it has also made headways in terms of overhauling attack, transport, rescue and backup helicopters.

Salami underlined the major role of the IRGC Ground Force in ensuring security in Iran, saying the Airborne Division’s backup for the land forces is of great significance.

The general went on to say that the Airborne Division forces’ preparedness is in a very good state like that of other Ground Force units.

Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made great headways in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment.

Iran maintains that its military capabilities pose no threat to regional countries, stressing that the Islamic Republic’s defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence.

Last month, the IRGC Ground Force unveiled several military and defensive achievements in the presence of General Salami.

One of the military equipment unveiled was the amphibious armored vehicle, Makran, which is an efficient carrier equipped with a fire control system and a vision site, including a day camera and thermal sensor with a detection power of up to 4,000 meters and a laser rangefinder of 10 km.

Monitoring and shooting with a monitor, fast loading of ammunition, etc. are other features of this personnel carrier.

Another equipment unveiled by the IRGC Ground Force was Me'raj reconnaissance drone that uses elevator camera technology, enjoys a flight duration of more than 10 hours and has a range of 1,000km.

Other equipment produced and unveiled by the IRGC Ground Force included modernized BTR-60 personnel carrier, Ra'ad 2 tower which can be mounted on military vehicles, Explorer 1 which is a radar and electro-optic system which can be used to discover mines, offensive gun named Sa'aban with a range of 800 meters and Hedayat 22 system to precisely guide Katyusha rockets.

MH/PA