Iran unveiled on Saturday what authorities said was a locally upgraded radar system with a range of 250 miles that could help defend against cruise and ballistic missiles and drones.
The announcement comes at a time of rising tension between Iran and the United States. Iran shot down a US military surveillance drone in the Persian Gulf with a surface-to-air missile in June. Tehran says the drone was over its territorial waters, but Washington says it was in international airspace.
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State television showed the Falaq, a mobile radar and a vehicle housing a control room, which it said was an improved version of the Gamma, a system that military experts said was of Russian origin.
Western military analysts say Iran often exaggerates its weapons capabilities, though concerns about its long-range ballistic missile program contributed to Washington last year exiting the pact that Iran sealed with world powers in 2015 to rein in its nuclear ambitions in exchange for an easing of economic sanctions.
"This system has high capabilities and can detect all types of cruise and ballistic missiles and drones," Brig. Gen. Alireza Sabahifard, commander of the regular army's air defense forces, was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency Mehr.
Sabahifard said the Falaq was a locally overhauled version of a system which had been out of operation for a long time, Mehr reported. He did not give the system's country of origin.
The Falaq is a phased-array radar system which can be incorporated into Iran's larger integrated air defense, which includes an S-300 surface-to-air missile system that Russia delivered in 2016, state-run Press TV said.
"The Falaq system was developed in order to counter sanctions restricting access to spare parts of a previously foreign-developed system," Press TV said on its website.
