Optimized Missile-Launching Frigates Delivered to IRGC Navy

February 29, 2012 farsnews.com

TEHRAN (FNA) - Power of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy increased after it received renovated and optimized missile-launching frigates, dubbed as Tondar, on Wednesday.

The vessels were handed to the IRGC naval force in a ceremony attended by IRGC Navy Commander Brigadier General Ali Fadavi in Iran's Southern port city of Bushehr on Wednesday.

Addressing the ceremony, Executive Director of Missile-Launching Frigates Renovation and Optimization Project Abul-Qassem Valagohar said that over one million dollars had been spent on the project.

He added that the vessels' bodies, engines, fire-extinguishing systems, control systems, radar and defensive systems have all been optimized in the project.

Iranian Navy commanders have always stressed that the country's naval forces are capable of producing all the needed military equipments, including military vessels, submarines, torpedoes and naval missiles.

Iran in February inaugurated the production line of a newly unveiled naval cruise missile, called Zafar (Triumph).

The production line was inaugurated by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi in a ceremony at the Defense Ministry' Aerospace Industries Organization on the occasion of the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies, celebrating the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution back in 1979.

During the ceremony, the first cargo of Zafar missiles was delivered to the IRGC.

Iran's naval power has even been acknowledged by foes. In a Sep. 11, 2008 report, the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy also said that in the two decades since the Iraqi imposed war on Iran, the Islamic Republic has excelled in naval capabilities and is able to wage unique asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces.

According to the report, Iran's Navy has been transformed into a highly motivated, well-equipped, and well-financed force and is effectively in control of the world's oil lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz.

The study says that if Washington takes military action against the Islamic Republic, the scale of Iran's response would likely be proportional to the scale of the damage inflicted on Iranian assets.