TEHRAN - The commander of the Army Air Defense Force Brigadier-General Alireza Sabahifard said on Wednesday that Iran is able to monitor all bases and movements of the enemies and has the power to destroy from a distance of over 200 kilometers.

Sabahifard made the announcement in a press conference on the occasion of the establishment of the air defense in Jihad Self-Sufficiency Organization. 

"After the formation of the air defense force, we were able to attain great achievements. We produced the equipment that has placed us at the top of the advanced technology in the world," he told reporters, according to the Mehr news agency.

"Iran is the first in the region in the field of air defense. In the world, we have a lot to say in air defense as well, and this authority and capability has caused the enemy to change its behavior," the top military official highlighted.

Gen. Sabahifard called air defense the front line of defense against the enemy, noting, "Today air defense force of Iran has reached such a great power that has no need to other countries. Air defense is advancing rapidly, and all the equipment used in this force is 100% indigenous."

The commander also said, "With the high capabilities we have in air defense, we monitor all enemy's bases and movements, and from a distance of over 200 kilometers, we can destroy targets."

Stating that 87 projects have been inaugurated in a few days, Sabahifard stressed the indigenous Moragheb (Watchdog) radar would start its mission by monitoring the country's sky.

“Iran's air defense has no rival in the region today”

"As well as 10 sports projects and 18 projects related to the environment, 35 important projects related to infrastructure and construction such as gas supply have been inaugurated, and regarding command-and-control l6 projects have also been inaugurated," the commander of the Army Air Defense Force stated.

The top military official referred to the Alborz project as one of the honors of Iran and said, "Alborz fuzzy array, a three-dimensional radar, has been produced with the aim of intercepting and detecting long-range aerial targets with low radar cross-section and stealth."

The commander also underlined that the maximum radar range of this system is 450 km and was able to identify targets at low altitudes.

"Alborz Radar is also able to track 300 targets simultaneously."

Sabahifard also said the Borhan System is a command-and-control weapons center at low altitude as the last line of command in “the point-defense of command-and-control air defense network."

By developing such an air defense system, the commander said, Iran has succeeded to end a monopoly of certain great power in this field.
 
"With producing this equipment, we defeated the hegemony of global arrogance. The Borhan System, after receiving and analyzing data from all sources, provides them with the highest levels of command to make decisions in the shortest possible time to communicate the necessary decisions to carry out the mission and destroy the target," Sabahifard explained.

The commander added, "The Borhan System with its effective detection and processing capability enables the possibility of destroying and deceiving air targets. It also sends this information to missile systems by combining data received from electro-optical systems with data received from radar systems."

In addition to the ability to detect the target in a passive mode, the Army official said, the Borhan System has the ability to send orders to deal with electronic disruption.

He went on to say that Iran stands first in the area of air defense technology.

"Iran's air defense has no rival in the region today and also can compete with other air defense systems at the global level. Our enemies know these abilities, and this awareness has caused a change in their words and behavior, and this is due to the absolute power of air defense," Sabahifard pointed out.

He added, "Despite all the restrictions, threats, and cruel sanctions, we succeeded in turning these threats into opportunities, and the result today is the achievement of high air defense power at the regional level."

The commander of the Army air defense force underscored that the air defense was developing exponentially and moving forward rapidly and Iran's Army is using all domestically-made equipment in the air defense.

Until late last year Iran was under the arms embargo. However, the embargo was lifted according to UN Security Council Resolution 2231. The lifting of embargo angered the Trump administration. 

Iran’s progress in the defense industry has surprised the West.
  
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C., has acknowledged that Iran has succeeded to indigenize military industry. 

“With a likely emphasis on homeland defense and long-range strike capability,” Iran will likely pursue more selective modernization, Taleblu said in October 2020. 

“Iran able to target micro air vehicles”

A senior Iranian commander has also praised the Air Defense Force’s achievements over the past years, saying the country, a pioneer in the technology of directed energy, is today capable of targeting micro air vehicles (MAVs) that violate its airspace.

In an interview with ISNA news agency published on Wednesday, First Brigadier General Mehdi Saqafifard, the deputy head of the planning department of Khatam Al-Anbia Air Defense Base, said the Air Defense Force has become self-reliant and rendered ineffective the sanctions imposed on the country by the West.

Prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he said, Iran was only able to detect flying objects from a distance of 380 kilometers through use of Western-supplied equipment.

Today, however, the country has been finalizing projects that enable the Air Force to intercept targets within a distance of up to 3,000 kilometers, said the commander, according to Press TV.

He added that the Air Force units operate radars that have a detection radius of 800 kilometers.

“Number of radar platforms has increased by about 400 times”

Saqafifard also said that the number of radar platforms has increased by about 400 times in the country, compared to the time before the Revolution.

Radars have had their technology upgraded from old interception systems to hybrid mode, he said, noting that radars are currently equipped with optical and sound-detection sensors and other types of sensors that cannot be mentioned.

“At a low anti-cruise altitude, we have at least five to six projects that are between the testing and operational phases, including Majid, Nawab, Zubin and Dezful systems,” he said.

“After 10 years of endeavor in the field of directed energy, we have been able to reach a point that the countries possessing this technology claim to be standing at. Directed energy means that we can get rid of the MAVs intruding into our skies. That means hitting a $900,000 cruise missile at a cost of only $10,” he explained.

The commander also pointed to the progress that the Air Defense Force has made regarding electronic warfare.

“In the field of electronic warfare, we have reached a point that the world does not believe,” he said.

Following the non-delivery of Russia’s S-300 missile defense system, Iran managed to manufacture Bavar-373 with the guidance of Leader of the Islamic Revolution and efforts of knowledge-based companies run by the Defense Ministry, Saqafifard said.

“Today, the Bavar-373 strategic system has nothing less than the S-300, and in some areas it is even more advanced. In the near future, we will hear good news from this system to break the record and reach the levels of the next system, the S-400.”