The Iranian Army unveiled a new cruise missile with a range of 200km fired from drones during a visit by the Chief-of-Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri to a secret underground drone base on Saturday.
During his visit, the ‘Heidar-1’ cruise missile and ‘Heidar-2’ cruise drone were unveiled, Fars News Agency (FNA) reported.
‘Heidar-1’ cruise missile has a range of 200 kilometers and its speed at the moment of hitting the target is 1,000 km/h. It is the first cruise missile capable of being fired by a drone.
Major General Mohammad Baqeri lauded the country’s achievements in developing different types of drones, saying that the pilotless aircraft have enhanced Iran's deterrence power.
General Baqeri underlined the significance of drones in defending the country’s interests, and said that they have found a special place in different defensive, offensive, land, sea, air and air defense areas.
Noting that deterrence is not possible with old methods and equipment and requires new methods, he said that “the drones that we saw today can play such a role”.
Meanwhile, Commander of the Iranian Army Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said that the Army’s secret bases hosting different home-made drones and other military equipment have been constructed to defend the country’s independence and territorial integrity.
“Our biggest achievement is that we have never relied on anyone and provided whatever we need for our defense,” General Mousavi said.
He added that the launch of the secret base by the Iranian Army to keep drones is in line with the main mission of the armed forces to defend the country’s independence and territorial integrity.
General Mousavi added that the need for enhancement of long-range drones with high flight resistance capacity and the high capacity of carrying ammunition for targeting strategic bases led the country to promote the capacity of the existing drones and equipping them with different types of missiles and bombs with different ranges.
He added that upgrading Iran’s combat capabilities, including drone capabilities, is not stoppable by any means.