Upgraded Frigates Delivered To IRGC

The naval division of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has received the technically advanced missile launching Tondar frigates, according to a press statement released on Wednesday.  

The Tondar is similar to the Chinese C-801 in design.

The induction ceremony was carried out in the Persian Gulf city of Bushehr, and was attended by the senior Revolutionary Guard officials, including the IRGC Navy Commander Brigadier General Ali Fadavi. During the function, Abul-Qassem Valagohar, who is the operating head of the Missile-Launching Frigates Renovation and Optimization Project, was quoted as saying that the project has cost the IRGC more than one million USD.

He said that the optimization will allow the frigates to perform better and said that the efficiency of the engines, fire-extinguishing systems, control systems, radar and defensive systems have been improved by a considerable amount. The optimization will substantially increase the arm twisting powers of the Iranian Navy, whose top officials had earlier claimed that they are self sufficient as far as the manufacturing of naval equipments are considered.

Last month, the Iranian Navy had officially started the production of Zafar, the locally developed short range anti ship missile. General Ahmad Vahidi, the defence minister had attended the inauguration function. The function was held to coincide with the anniversary of the completion of the Iranian Islamic revolution, which happened 33 years ago. The revolutionary guards received their first shipment of the cruise missiles immediately after the ceremony.

Defence experts around the world concede that the Iranian Navy is one of the most advanced and technically superior forces of its kind in the entire Middle East region. They even claim that although smaller in the size in terms of fleet and personnel, the Iranian Navy is capable of holding elongated naval warfare with much larger rival armed forces.

The development comes at tense times, as uncertainity surrounds the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the Gulf region’s oil cargoes pass through.  Earlier, Iran had threatened to block all cargo traffic, which passes through the Strait. Experts fear that in case of any American or Israeli air strikes on Iran, the Iranian armed forces are likely to return fire on American- allied nations throughout the region, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There is also a possibility that the oil producing regions located inside Kuwait and Saudi Arabia can get affected during the response from Iran.