TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran plans to launch a new strategic radar system capable of detecting ballistic missiles in the eastern city of Tabas in early September, Commander of Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmaeili announced.

The radar will be unveiled on September 1 in a desert area where the US forces were crippled by a ferocious sandstorm, General Esmaeili told reporters on Sunday, referring to a failed military operation by the US forces in Iran's Tabas in 1980.

On April 25, 1980, the US launched Operation Eagle Claw in an attempt to rescue Americans held in the Iranian capital of Tehran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. However, a sandstorm struck and brought down the US helicopters involved in the operation, killing eight American servicemen.

The strategic radar system has a range of nearly 1,000 kilometers and is capable of detecting a host of flying objects, ranging from tiny targets to ballistic missiles and wide-body aircraft in a fraction of a second, General Esmaeili added.

Earlier this month, the second set of the domestically-made Qadir long-range radar system, manufactured by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, was installed in southwest of Iran.

The first set of the long-range radar had been stationed in a base in the central city of Garmsar in June 2014.

Designed and produced by the local military experts at the IRGC aerospace force, the Qadir identifies aerial targets on the basis of 3-dimensional detection. The system enjoys nonstop monitoring activity.

Iran has in recent years made great headways in manufacturing a broad range of military equipment, including the air defense systems that use cutting edge technologies.

Tehran has repeatedly stated that its military might is defensive in nature and poses no threat to other countries.

By Tasnim News Agency