Iran to mass produce heat-seeking missiles

Iran is going to mass produce a new generation of domestically built air-to-air heat-seeking missiles which can track targets via their infrared emission.

Air Force commander Brigadier General Hassan Shah-Safi told IRNA on Saturday that having been successfully test-fired in different situations, the heat-seeking missiles are now going to be mass produced at the Defense Ministry.

This missile is fired towards the target by a plane and can track the object until it hits it, Shah-Safi said. It has a range of up to 100 kilometers, he added.

According to the top commander, the missile has been tested with a range of more than 40 kilometers, but its range could be modified to increase at higher altitudes.

Shah-Safi said Iran has also produced different kinds of air-to-air missiles, adding that radar-evading planes are being sample produced on a small scale as well.

To advance its defensive capabilities against any possible attack, Iran has so far launched different kinds of missiles.

In June, Iran inaugurated the production line of a domestically-made, supersonic ground-to-air missile system called 'Shahin'.

The system, which has a range of more than 40 kilometers, is capable of targeting fighter jets and helicopters.

Earlier in May, Iran also successfully tested its new solid-fuel Sejjil 2 missile, which is designed to be more accurate and swift than previous Iranian-made models. It has a major deterrence power.