TEHRAN, April 11 -- Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Sunday that the country has started to produce a domestically-built medium-range air defense missile system, the local satellite Press TV reported.

Vahidi said that the anti-aircraft missile, dubbed Mersad ( Ambush), features cutting-edge technology that makes it able to " destroy modern aircraft at low and medium altitudes," according to the report.

Mersad is also equipped with sophisticated radar signal processing technology, an advanced launcher, and contains exclusive electronic equipment for guidance and target acquisition, Press TV said.

"The state-of-the-art technology used in Mersad links it to other anti-aircraft batteries and provides it with the unique ability to combat electronic warfare," Vahidi said, adding that its dynamic system features capabilities that are superior than those U.S.-made Hawk missile, which Iran purchased in the 1970s.

He announced that the country has begun mass-production of the medium-range missile and plans to deliver a sizeable number to its armed forces by the end of the year, according to Press TV.

The production of Mersad marks a technical breakthrough in Iran 's defense capabilities and proves that the country's armed forces have achieved high levels of self-sufficiency, Vahidi was quoted as saying.

Earlier in March, the Iranian navy successfully test-fired a new missile from its first indigenously-built Jamaran destroyer in the water of the Persian Gulf, Press TV reported.

In a footage shown on Press TV, the surface-to-surface Nour missile successfully hit its target at a distance of 100 km in the test-fire on Tuesday.

Over the past years, Iran has made considerable progress in producing home-made multiple-range missiles.

Source:xinhua