Iran Starts Mass-Production of Powerful Anti-Armor Munitions http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9002310572

Iran on Saturday started mass-production of anti-armor ammunition in an official ceremony attended by the country's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi.Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the mass production of 125mm and 105mm shells for Saqeb Anti-Armor System here in Tehran today, Vahidi stated that production of the new ammunition is aimed at bolstering the Armed Forces' capability in ground battles and creating a wide range of anti-armor ammunitions.

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.