TEHRAN — A new batch of overhauled military aircraft, swimmer delivery vehicles, and a destroyer that have been modernized by local experts were delivered to the Iranian Navy’s fleet on Sunday.

The gear was handed over to Iranian naval forces during a ceremony joined by Deputy Chief of Iranian Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Shahram Irani and other senior military figures in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

The arrivals included a Sikorsky SH-3D Sea King anti-submarine warfare helicopter, a turboprop Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft, medium-size British Hovercraft Corporation BH.7, optimized propulsion systems for Alvand destroyer as well as four newly overhauled al-Sabehat-15 swimmer delivery vehicles, Press TV reported.

Head of Iran's Navy Industries, First Captain Siamak Pourkazzazi, said the new engines installed on Alvand destroyer enjoy sophisticated safety and steering systems, and come with new generators and related equipment. They enable the vessel to be sent on long maritime missions.

He added that the homegrown al-Sabehat-15 swimmer delivery vehicles have been repaired and equipped with advanced electro-optical systems.

For his part, Rear Admiral Sayyari underlined the importance of Iranian naval forces’ deployment in the northern tip of the Indian Ocean, stating that their presence will help secure the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Malacca and the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb strait.