Iran to start building new destroyer in 2020.

Iran is preparing to start building a new destroyer with a displacement of almost 6,000 tons this year, the head of the Iranian Defense Ministry’s Marine Industries Organisation said on Friday, April 4, in an interview with the state-run Mehr news agency.

Dena destroyer (Picture source: Iranian Navy)

“In the Defense ministry, we are working on the building of a 6,000-ton destroyer in the long-run,” Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari said, as quoted by the agency, adding that executive preparations for the project will start this year. This destroyer will ensure Iran’s strategic presence in international waters.

The admiral added that destroyers and large submarines would make up a major part of the Iranian navy’s fleet in the near future. Since 2015, the Iranian military has greatly increased the size of their naval forces, with the incorporation of several small patrol boats that are often used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Forces (IRGC) in the Strait of Hormuz waters.