The minister
said that the country's Armed Forces have already been
equipped with the new ammo, and mentioned that "the
new shells can destroy all types of advanced, multiple-layer,
new generation reactionary armors".
He added that
the new ammo traverses five times faster than the speed
of the sound, and enjoys high penetration power and can
penetrate into armors with a thickness of 50 cm.
Tehran launched
an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed
war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since
1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel
carriers, missiles and fighter planes.
Yet, Iranian
officials have always stressed that the country's military
and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should
not be perceived as a threat to any other country.
The Iranian
Army recently test-fired different types of newly-developed
missiles and torpedoes and tested a large number of its
home-made weapons, tools and equipments, including submarines,
military ships, artillery, choppers, aircraft, UAVs and
air defense and electronic systems, in a series of massive
military drills.
Defense analysts
and military observers say that Iran's wargames and its
advancements in weapons production have proved as a deterrent
factor, specially at a time of heightened threats by the
US.
