IRGC unveils homegrown military equipment
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) unveiled four new homegrown military products, including a reconnaissance drone with a service ceiling of 12,000 feet.
During an exhibition in Tehran on Saturday, IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami unveiled the products manufactured by the IRGC’S Research and Self-sufficiency Jihad Organization, Tasnim News Agency reported.
One of the items was BTR-50 personnel carrier, a modified version of Makran personnel carrier, which enjoys an improved body and a new turret. The vehicles’ turret is equipped with a fire-control system, thermal night-vision cameras, and a laser distant measurement system that can hit surface and aerial targets.
The personnel carrier’s turret also has a 30mm caliber automatic cannon and a 7.62mm caliber machinegun, controlled by a gunner inside the vehicle.
Another product unveiled by the IRGC was Me’raj-1 drone.
The reconnaissance UAV has a service ceiling of 12,000 feet and a maximum speed of 140 km/h. Weighing 35 kilograms, the aircraft has a flight endurance of 10.5 hours and can carry a payload of 5kg. With a wingspan of 3.6 meters, Me’raj-1 has a range of 1,000 kilometers and a data link system with a range of up to 150 km. The IRGC chief also unveiled So’ban-1 machinegun, a modified version of Russian-made RPD machinegun.
Another major achievement of the IRGC unveiled on Saturday is a ground-penetrating radar system used for detection of landmines and roadside bombs.
Mounted on a vehicle traveling at a speed of 10 km/h, the radar system can detect explosives hidden in the ground at a depth of up to 30cm at a distance of 30 meters.
‘Surprise systems’
In a news conference following his visit to the exhibition, Major General Salami said the force is to receive “surprise systems” in the near future, stressing that a US bid to extend an arms embargo on Iran would have no effect on the country’s defense capabilities, Press TV reported.
“There is a global arms embargo on Iran... on the other hand, the United States and its allies are among threats to Iran,” he said.
The arms embargo, he said, provided “an opportunity for our scientists to fulfill defense needs using our domestic capability.”
“Today, we are not dependent on foreigners for any of the weapons systems .... and we have reached the stage of self-sufficiency and independence,” the commander pointed out. The US has proposed a UN Security Council resolution which calls for an arms embargo against Iran to be extended.
“The ground forces have put technological surprise on the agenda and we will see the arrival of surprise systems in the near future.”
While the US is no longer a party to Iran nuclear deal, Washington has stepped up calls for the extension of a UN arms embargo on Iran, which will expire in October under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorses the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened that it may seek to trigger a snapback of all sanctions on Iran if its attempts to extend the arms embargo fail.
In May 2018, Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the 2015 deal reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the US, Britain, France, Russia, and China plus Germany and reimposed the sanctions that had been lifted against Tehran and began unleashing the “toughest ever” fresh sanctions.