In the middle of their drills, the Islamic Republic's armed forces unveiled their new underground "missile city", telling the enemies that Tehran has reached such a level of deterrence that prepares it ready for any scenario.
The new missile city, belonging to the IRGC and called the “Dormant Volcano,” was unveiled on Friday January 10 in the presence of Major General Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, and Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Forces.
"This dormant volcano will be ready to erupt on the enemy in a very short time," General Hajizadeh said.
According to Hajizadeh, in Operation True Promise 2 in October, the missiles of this base managed to destroy Israel's Navatim Air Base that houses F-35 fighter jets, by outmanuvering numerous and dense Israeli defense systems. The Israeli regime has not yet been able to return the air base to service, he said.
This underground missile city, which houses long-range missiles, is 500 meters below the surface.
“Our missile cities are so numerous that if they are detected, they cannot to be deterred. What you see is just the tip of the iceberg. Iran’s missile tunnels tire out the most modern spying radars," Hajizadeh maintained.
The liquid-fueled Emad, Qadr, and Qiyam missiles, which are among the strategic assets of this tactical base, are only a very small part of this base displayed, and about 90 percent of the other parts of this base remain secret, and each day more of them are produced.
"The enemy thought that our production capacity has diminished, but the growth rate of our missile power is up to date. The missiles are really increasing and we are upgrading them every day in terms of quantity, quality, maneuverablity, and design. This increase in capabilities means that the IRGC Aerospace Forces will once again unveil its newly produced missiles and missile bases in the near future," General Salami said during the visit to the missile facility.
"We have been preparing for major battles, large-scale campaigns, and heavy and even long-term confrontations with the interconnected arrays of seemingly great powers on the world stage and their regional attachments for years. The power that has been made here is an outcome of decades of endeavor. The endeavor starts from within the missile production factories to the large cities where they are stored and prepared. We trust primarily in the power of God and His victories, and throughout this trust, we believe in our defensive and deterrent power," the IRGC commander added.
For the first time in October 2015, the IRGC unveiled a missile city located in 500-meter depth, stating that these underground bases spread across the country in all provinces. Every year, new bases are unveiled, showing that every part of the country, especially mountains and deserts, host these significant weapons. During its attacks on Israel, Iran fired missiles from various provinces, signaling that it built these bases almost in every province and it can rapidly react to enemy threats.
4-decade-old underground missile cities
Construction of these underground bases does not date back to the recent decade and they are actually constructed over the past four decades. After unveiling the new missile city of the IRGC recently, Mahdi Bakhtiari, a military researcher, said the construction of the first underground missile base in western Iran dates back to the early 1980s, coinciding with the start of Tehran’s missile program amid Saddam Hussein's war on the country (1980-1988). He added that Iran has built many secret bases for its missile industry, drones, speedboats, and other naval components. Stating that the construction of military cities hundreds of meters underground continues, Bakhtiari maintained: “Except for the naval bases located in the south of the country, missile cities and drone bases are located throughout the country, and most of them are built in the heart of the mountains.” Suggesting that the construction of underground military bases blocks the way of satellites that closely monitor all military movements, the Iranian researcher continued: “The distribution of secret bases in most parts of the country is to surprise the enemies from several fronts.”
Iran's missile arsenal is the biggest and most diverse one in West Asia, and massive Western sanctions have not blocked Iran's way to military advances. In 2022, General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), announced that Iran had more than 3,000 ballistic missiles. This is in addition to thousands of advanced missiles from other types developed by home scientists. Iran has made significant advances in the accuracy and range of its missiles over the past decade, making them a more potent conventional threat. The focus on accuracy has been accompanied by a claimed missile range of 2,000 kilometers, first publicly confirmed in 2015. These missiles could almost certainly achieve longer ranges if equipped with a lighter warhead.
The power to construct "drone cities"
Iran's weapon cities are not limited to missiles, rather, they include other defense areas where the armed forces have made major archivements. Meanwhile, specially designed and terrifyingly accurate suicide drones have been in service with the IRGC's Aerospace Force for several years, but their storage into underground cities has increased their importance and effectiveness. Therefore, in March 2022, the IRGC unveiled its first drone city, showing that Tehran has made significant progress in this field, which is becoming increasingly important in modern warfare.
According to images released from this special base, there are 5 drones in each containers, and according to General Hajizadeh, there are at least 12 types of suicide drones in this base alone, ready for rapid response operations. Among the drones present in this underground city are the Kaman 22 wide-body multi-purpose drone equipped with the Haider 1 missile, the Kaman 12 multi-purpose drone, the Ababil 5 surveillance, reconnaissance, and combat drone, the Mohajer 6 surveillance, reconnaissance, and combat drone, the Futros wide-body multi-purpose drone, the Karar bomber drone, the Haider 2 suicide-cruise drone, the Arash suicide drone, the Omid stealth drone, the Balaban cruise bomb, and the Shafaq missile.
The process of developing and upgrading the armed forces' drone power has played a significant role in the success of Iran's defense strategy, but with the unveiling of the underground city and the entry of suicide drones into these bases, as well as measures such as adding carriers, this equipment, like missiles, has become one of Iran's strategic and special assets. Now, the IRGC's suicide drones have taken on new and larger missions in the field of deterrence and punishment of any evil thinking against Iran.
Iran has made extraordinary progress in the field of drone manufacturing that last year Forbes magazine reported Iran as one of the world's top five powers in this field, writing that in the near future, Iran will join the club of drone exporters in the world.
Advanced airbase 500 meters underground
As part of the armed forces' major plan to optimally utilize underground cities equipped with offensive weapons, the Iranian air force unveiled in February 2023 Oghab (Eagle) 44 air base, which is capable of accepting and operating a variety of fighter jets and bombers, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles.
Brigadier General Amir Vahedi, commander of the air force, stated at the time of the unveiling of this base that “Oghab 44 has all the facilities of an air base deep into the ground.” It is noteworthy that this air base, with its facilities such as alert, command post, fighter aircraft storage hangars, aircraft repair and maintenance centers, navigation and airport equipment, fuel tanks, etc., has the ability to accommodate all types of air force fighters to conduct assigned missions. By storing fighters in safe places and equipping them with electronic warfare systems, bombs, and missiles, this base enables long-range operations and increases strategic range for distant targets. During the visit to this secret army base of Chief of General Staff of Armed Forces Major General Ali Bagheri, photos and videos of only small parts of this base were shown to the media. The base is said to have likes in some other parts of the country meeting security needs.
In addition to unveiling underground military cities, the Islamic Republic has also had growing capabilities in the naval sector. Although the underground cities belonging to the naval forces have not been officially unveiled yet, senior IRGC commanders have repeatedly pointed to extensive achievements in this field.
When for the first time in 2015 unveiling underground bases by the Iranian armed forces was hitting the headlines with wide-range home and international coverage, the IRGC's navy unveiled part of its achievements. Then navy commander General Ali Fadavi said at the time that "in addition to the shore-to-sea missiles located in long tunnels, we also have the speedsubmarines that are the nightmare of Americans." Also, current IRGC navy commander General Alireza Tangsiri announced that these underground facilities have been constructed along the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea coasts, all armed, and can fire ballistic missiles.
Capabilities of underground military cities
The military power of any country is considered a deterrent against enemies, and the more advanced this capability is, the more enemies will be deterred from attacking the territorial integrity of the country. In this regard, by building military underground cities, Iran sends a message to Israel and its Western allies that they should consider all aspects before any action against Iran.
These military installations are usually located in remote and restricted areas to remain hidden from the enemy's view, and even bunker-busting bombs cannot damage the weapons they store. These cities contain a variety of ballistic and cruise missiles with different ranges that provide the ability to attack strategic targets. Also, the presence of specialized technical teams for rapid maintenance and repairs is another feature of these installations.
The existence of these facilities enables Iran to act
rapidly and deal blows to enemy in case of a military action or crisis.
These powerful underground cities force the enemies to spend and invest
more on defense infrastructure and air defense systems, as Israel after
Iran's missile strikes moved to boosting its air defense capabilities
amid its evident failure to intercept Iranian missiles.
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