Iranian Navy re-launches upgraded Bayandor ship

12 June 2013 naval-technology.com

The Iranian Navy has re-launched its newly modernised ship, Bayandor, in the Southern port of Bandar Abbas, aimed at boosting the nation's ability to protect and maintain security in regional and international waters.

Fars News Agency cited Iranian Army commander major general Ataollah Salehi as a saying that the upgraded vessel would be deployed in the high seas and free waters to leverage the Iranian Navy's capabilities.

Upgrades to the vessel include optimising the monitoring control systems and overhauling the main engines, heat exchangers and fuel and oil systems.

Named to honour martyred commander Bayandor, the ship has been armed with 76mm and 40mm canons, a surface-to-surface Nour (Light) missile, Qader (Mighty) missile and long-range Qadr (Magnitude) missile systems as part of its modernisation programme.

The ultra-advanced and self-relying systems, Nour and Qader anti-ship cruise missiles have been designed to provide improved radar, satellite, precision, range and navigation capabilities.

"The 40-mm cannon mounted on the destroyer is also among advanced artilleries in air defence," Salehi added.

Fitted with missile, torpedo, artillery, sonar and other information and communication systems, the vessel is expected to be deployed in the next few days or months off the Pacific, Southern Indian or Atlantic Oceans.

The Iranian Navy has deployed its first Mowdge-class vessel, Jamaran, in October 2011, while Jamaran 2 was launched in March 2013 and Jamran 3 is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of the current Iranian year.

The 14,000t Mowdge-class vessels are fitted with modern radars and electronic warfare capabilities, as well as a variety of anti-ship, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.