Domestically Developed New Torpedo Technology Test Fired by Iran


10/13/2015



Nuclear power country of Iran has successfully test-fired an advanced torpedo system, said Iran’s state TV.
 
With the ability to travel at high speeds and able to operate in deep or shallow waters, the domestically developed torpedo system dubbed "ValFajr,"or dawn in Farsi, has a 485-pound warhead that can be used against heavy vessels.
 
The country’s Mehr News agency reports that the torpedo system contains “anti-deception” technology, said citing Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan.
 
 “What makes Valfajr torpedo stand apart from other similar products in the world is the short preparation time in the supporting and firing units; a characteristic which leads to a remarkable increase in tactical capability and a quick response from surface and subsurface combat units,” said Dehghan during a Valfajr inauguration ceremony on Tuesday.
 
Valfajr improves the range of Iran’s torpedo arsenal as well as offering more precision and explosive power, the Mehr News Agency report said quoting Navy Commander Habibollah Sayyari.
 
Iran has opened a production line to mass-produce the torpedo, said the state TV report even as it reported that Valfajr was originally unveiled in 2011. However the Tuesday report did not provide any information about the range or say when the test took place.
 
It has been a tradition that Iran occasionally announces production of new weapons, which cannot be independently verified.
 
Since 1992, Iran has begun a military self-sufficiency program that produces weapons from mortars and torpedoes to missiles and jet fighters.
 
While is Iran is yet to enter the Middle Eastern crisis directly, its tactical ally in the Syrian crisis, Russia has gained accolades from defense analysts for the small naval ships used in Russia’s cruise missile attack on Islamic State positions in Syria last week.
 
 “It’s unique that they are putting [these missiles] on small ships. The U.S. needs to be aware that we do not have a monopoly on high-tech weapons,” Eric Wertheim, author of the Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World told FoxNews.com.
 
A series of missiles against ISIS infrastructure in Syria were launched from the Caspian Sea last week by their missile ships Dagestan, Grad Sviyazhsk, Uglich, and Veliky Ustyug, confirmed Russia’s Ministry of Defense.
 
“The firing was conducted by high-precision ship missile systems Kalibr NK, the cruise missiles of which engaged all the assigned targets successfully and with high accuracy,” said the Ministry, in a Facebook post on October 7.
 
The Dagestan, which was the flagship of the strike group, is more than 328-feet long, has a displacement of about 2,000 tons, according to the Ministry of Defence.
 
On the other hand, the smaller ones like the Grad Sviyazhsk, Uglich, and Veliky Ustyug are over 230 feet in length with displacements of 1,000 tons, respectively.
 
Defense experts believe similar to a Tomahawk cruise missile, the 26 missiles that were launched were land-attack versions of Russia’s SS-N-27 anti-ship missile.
Comparing the smallest US ships that carry similar missiles are around 9000 tons, explained Wertheim.
 
 “The smallest ship in the U.S. Navy to carry a Tomahawk missile would be destroyer size – that’s about 10 times the size [of the Russian ships],” FoxNews.com reported Wertheim saying.
 
(Source:www.foxnews.com)