Iran air defense to deploy new radar

Iran's air defense will deploy a new domestically-manufactured radar system in the near future, says the commander of the Iranian Army’s Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base, Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili. The new, completely indigenous Thamen radar system, which has been designed and produced by Iranian experts, will be added to the country’s air defense within the next 10 days,” Brig. Gen. Esmaili told IRNA on Monday. In the first stage, the system will be stationed in one area and later relocated to other spots, he added. The Iranian commander also noted that the army base has increased its deployment of locally-built information systems, which are ‘unique’ in the Middle East region, across the country. In a bid to enhance Iran's air defense capabilities, Iran’s Army staged a major defensive military exercise codenamed Tharallah across a vast area in the country’s south in February, with the deployment of stationary and mobile home-built Kashef and Matla’ al-Fajr radar systems. In addition to the Kashef and Matla’ al-Fajr radar systems, the Kasta surveillance radar and Nebo mobile radar system were also deployed to detect, identify and report enemy movements to operational units. Iran maintains that the military drills are defensive in nature and meant to convey a message of peace and friendship to regional countries. Tehran has also conveyed a public invitation to regional states to engage in joint naval drills with Iranian forces.