Iran has unveiled a new version of its local-made air-defense missile system during large-scale military exercise.
For the first time, the new launcher of the Bavar-373 air-defense missile system was unveiled during the joint aerial maneuvers, codenamed Modafean Aseman Velayat 99. The joint air defense exercise is a large-scale military exercise covering more than half of the country’s territories. It was attended by air defense units from the Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
Iran claims that the new Bavar-373 surface-to-air missile defense system is on par with the Russian S-400 system.
According to media reports, Bavar-373 is a long-range road-mobile surface-to-air missile system officially rolled out in August 2019. Iran describes it as a competitor with the S-300 and S-400 missile systems.
The latest version of Bavar-373 seems to be based on an 8×8 truck with two rectangular container launchers mounted at the rear of the chassis. Each container contains one Sayyad-4 missile. According to the Iranian defense industry, the Sayyad-4 has a range of 300 km and can reach an altitude of 27 kilometers. It is designed to intercept and destroy any types of aerial targets as wells as ballistic missiles.