Homegrown Damavand-2 destroyer to join Iran’s naval fleet

Media reports said on Saturday that the Mowj-class frigate is currently passing its operational tests in the northern fleet and that it will soon start its mission based on defined instructions.

The Damavand-2, which is an advanced type of Jamaran destroyer, is equipped with new radar and missile systems, as well as propulsion and weaponry systems thanks to cooperation between the Defense Ministry, the Iranian Navy, and the knowledge-based companies, the reports added.

Meanwhile, Manouchehr Alipour, an advisor to the Iranian defense minister in marine industries and the deputy head of the Marine Industries Organization (MIO), said the country’s experts have acquired proficiency in designing and manufacturing destroyers.

“It took 12 years to build the first Jamaran-class destroyer. Later, the Damavand-1 was built in 8 years and Dena was delivered to the Navy after 6 years. We hope to deliver the Damavand-2 [to the Navy] in a much shorter time. We manufactured Damavand’s initial hull in 4 years, but the process [to build] the Damavand-2 took [only] 11 months,” he noted.

“The reason for the amazing reduction in the time needed for designing the hull and building the destroyers was that we became proficient in designing and engineering destroyers and their equipment.”

Damavand-1, a 100-meter-long destroyer weighing more than 1,300 tons, officially joined the Iranian Navy's northern fleet in March 2015.

Three years later, however, the frigate collided with a breakwater while docking at the Caspian port of Bandar Anzali and sank there.

It was recovered from the sea and entered the operational cycle, with new pictures showing that it is equipped with an anti-ship cruise missile launcher and a 76mm gun.

Iran’s Navy has in recent years achieved self-sufficiency in manufacturing surface and sub-surface vessels.

It has also increased its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers.

Recently, the Iranian Navy’s 86th flotilla of warships, comprising indigenous Dena destroyer and Makran forward base ship, successfully completed a round-the-world voyage after sailing 63,000 kilometers of sea routes over a period of eight months.