Iran Navy Employs New Minesweeping System in Drills
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Navy on Sunday unveiled and brought into operation a new type of minesweeping kit that generates sonic and electromagnetic signals to detonate naval mines during large-scale military drills underway in south and southeast of the country.
A previous version of the mine-clearing system became operational last year, which transmitted only electromagnetic signals to activate a naval mine’s detonator.
The upgraded model, however, uses a new attachment system that produces sonic signals underwater to remotely detonate mines.
It was the first time the two systems were combined for a single operation, while each could act separately as well.
Carried by the RH naval helicopters, the new system is utilized to clear smart seabed mines.
The high-security system can work at relatively high speeds, 20 nautical miles per hour. Given the RH chopper’s fuel tanks, the minesweeping operation would go on for 10 continuous hours in a large area.
Codenamed “Muhammad Rasulullah” (Muhammad, the messenger of God), the wargame began on Thursday and is expected to run until December 31.
The exercise is held at an area of 2.2 million square kilometers, stretching from the northern Indian Ocean (10 degrees latitude) to the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and in the southern and southeastern Iranian provinces of Sistan and Balouchestan and Hormozgan.