Illustration: S-300 missile defense batteries
Illustration: S-300 missile defense batteriesReuters

The Iranian army is poised to display it's new "Bavar (Belief) 373" air-defense missile launcher and carrier at its annual military parade, which will be held at the end of the month.

The missile is an Iranian version of the Russian S-300 missile. After a 2007 Russian deal to supply Iran with the advanced missiles was shot down by Western opposition, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei decided to develop a domestic alternative.

There were denied reports that Russia had offered Iran the missile system again last September. The S-300 system is built to intercept targets at a high altitude, and can simultaneously track from one to 100 targets.

The Iranian version of the system will be integrated in its air defense array, each layer of which has been allocated two to three interception systems.

The missile launcher and carrier has five axles and ten wheels, can cross rivers up to 1.5 meters (five feet) in depth, and carry a load weighing up to 30 tons. It can climb a maximum incline angle of 35 degrees.

Iran says it can produce mass quantities of the carrier.

It has been noted that the Iranian S-300 equivalent could pose a serious impediment to an Israeli airstrike meant to take out Iran's nuclear program.

Iran has continued to flex its military muscle despite the ongoing nuclear talks with world powers; on Saturday, Iranian Navy Commander Habib Allah Siari announced that Ghader-type cruise missiles would be placed on Iran's destroyers.