On September 22nd, an Iranian Naval Parade took place in the port city of Bandar Abbas, as part of the celebrations for Iran’s Sacred Defense Week.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani was in attendance and gave an opening speech.
LIVE: Iranian parl. speaker Larijani addresses ceremony marking Sacred Defense Week https://t.co/2kSpZy05M1
— Press TV (@PressTV) September 22, 2019
The main ceremony in Tehran was opened with a speech by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
LIVE: Iranian president Rouhani addresses ceremony marking 'Sacred Defense Week' https://t.co/cBmPEX7CkE
— Press TV (@PressTV) September 22, 2019
Iran’s Sacred Defense refers to the beginning of an eight-year war, launched by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in late September 1980 on the Islamic Republic.
The Naval Parade included warships from the Iranian Navy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, as well as the Iranian Air Force and the IRGC’s Air Force.
Most of the photographs provided by Iranian media show whatever was closest to the coast, while there are videos showing the naval exercises and the parade.
Some of the military equipment presented at the Naval Parade included:
- The IRGC’s Tondar (Houdong) missile boat. It weighs 205 tons and can travel at a speed of 65 km/h. The vessel was initially equipped with Nour missiles, but they have been replaced Qadir cruise missiles with a range of 300km.
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- The IRGC’s Zolfaghar fast missile boat was also presented. Very little information is available for these vessels.
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- The Shahid Nazeri catamaran-type ship made an appearance as well. It is 55 meters long, 14 meters wide, carries a light civilian helicopter and can travel at a speed of up to 28 knots.
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- Several of the IRGC’s Ashura-class small boat appeared, armed with their typical machine guns.
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- Various patrol boats of both the IRGC and Iranian Navy were showcased.
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- A significant appearance was the Iranian Navy’s Ghadir-class mini-submarine, specifically built to navigate the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. It has Diesel-electric propulsion, weighs 120 tons, and is armed with 2 533mm torpedoes, in addition to mines and missiles.
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- The BH.7 Wellington Mk 4 air cushion landing craft appeared. It has a weight of 55 tons, when fully loaded with 60 troops, and it can travel at speeds of up to 65 knots.
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The Iranian Air Force presented its F4-E Phantom fighter jets, originally produced in the US.
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The Dassault Mirage F-1EQ made an appearance, as well, the fighter jet is a successor to the Mirage III family.
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Finally, the Agusta AS-61 helicopter flew above the Navy’s vessels. The type operated by the Iranian Air Force is the ASH-3D variant, an anti-submarine warfare helicopter.
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This is just part of the hardware that was presented during the Naval parade, those which were easily spotted and photographed from the coast.
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