Iran’s Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani made the comments before the start of Friday Prayers sermon in Tehran during a speech to mark Defense Industry Day which falls on 21 August.
General Ashtiani said that manufacturing, repair and optimization of equipment, the production and supply of about 90% of the needs weapons, products and defense equipment by the armed forces are some of the actions done by the defense ministry over the past year.
Various types of naval vessels and weapons, various types of military and non-military planes and helicopters, a considerable increase in production of various types of solid fuel ballistic missiles, double increase in various types of cruise missiles, 45% increase in production of air defense and 30% increase in production of high-speed vessels are some of the achievements made in the defense ministry, according to the minister.
"Building a supersonic ramjet engine and equipping helicopters with the Alborz missile system is one of the achievements and actions by the defense ministry," the defense minister said.
He said that the achievements were made through employing the country's industrial and research capabilities and potentials, including universities and knowledge-based companies and defense experts and scientists.
According to General Ashtiani, the defense industry created jobs for as many as 85,000 people.
He added that the defense ministry cooperated with 6,500 companies in the country.
The minister further said that the locally manufacturing defense equipment saved the country $404 million by meeting domestic needs.
MNA/FNA14020527000134