Iran To Unveil Its New Machine Gun

Baku, Azerbaijan, April 12



By Umid Niayesh - Trend:



Iran will unveil a new six-barrel machine gun in the new future, senior Iranian commander says.



Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Forces, Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan said that the machine gun dubbed "Moharram" has 50 caliber and high fire rate, Iran's Fars news agency reported on April 12.



The commander did not unveil more details on the issue.



Pourdastan was addressing the journalists during a press conference on the eve of Iran's Army day.



On April 18, Iran celebrates the Day of the Armed Forces, on the occasion of which a military parade will be held in Tehran. All units of the Iranian Armed Forces and the Islamic revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will participate in the parade.



Pourdastan stressed that Iranian Air Force fighters will participate in the Parade.



Iranian President Hassan Rouhani plans to attend the Parade in Tehran, he added.



The commander also stressed that a parade of military vessels will also be held in the Gulf of Oman.



While explaining the Army's plans for the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21), Pourdastan said that Army will conduct two joint military drills with the IRGC in the country's south eastern and south western areas.



Iranian army has joint projects with IRGC's Aerospace Force to increase range of its missiles, he added.



Iranian media outlets report that Iran has made great achievements in its defence sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems in recent years. Tehran established an arms development programme during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s to counter the weapons embargo imposed on it by the U.S. and its Western allies.



Since 1992, Iran has manufactured its own tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles, radars, boats, submarines and fighter planes. Iran also unveiled its first domestically-manufactured long-range Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in 2010.