Iranian military unveils underground tactical airbase

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Army office on Feb 7, 2023 shows Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Army Commander Abdolrahim Mousavi (front right) and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri (front center) visiting Iran's underground military air base in an undisclosed location. (PHOTO / AFP)

TEHRAN – The Iranian military on Tuesday unveiled an underground tactical airbase dubbed Oqab-44 (Eagle 44).

During the unveiling ceremony, the airbase was visited by Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri and Army Commander Abdolrahim Mousavi, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Located beneath the mountains, the airbase has the capability for the takeoff and landing of different fighter jets, bombers and unmanned aerial vehicles of the Iranian Air Force, the report added.

It is also home to different places such as an alert station, hangers for fighter jets and centers for aircraft repair and maintenance, and has navigation and airport equipment as well as fuel tanks, according to the report.

Located beneath the mountains, the underground tactical airbase dubbed Oqab-44 has the capability for the takeoff and landing of different fighter jets, bombers and unmanned aerial vehicles of the Iranian Air Force, the official news agency IRNA reported

Oqab-44 is one of the several underground tactical air bases of the Iranian Air Force across the country.

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Homegrown satellites

Meanwhile, the country unveiled two homegrown satellites dubbed Nahid-2 and Tolou-3 at a ceremony in Tehran, according to the IRIB news agency.

Tolou-3 is an earth observation satellite constructed by Iran Electronics Industries. With a weight of 150 kilograms, Tolou-3 is Iran's heaviest satellite. It is expected to be put into an orbit 500 kilometers above the earth, according to the report.

Nahid-2, built by Iranian Space Research Center, is a communications satellite with a minimum lifespan of two years and will be sent into an orbit 500 kilometers above the earth, it added.

Both satellites have been constructed at the order of the Iranian Space Agency and are ready for launch, the report showed.

Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Isa Zarepour said at the ceremony that another homegrown satellite, named Zafar (Triumph), will be ready for launch by May, according to Iranian Students' News Agency.

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In August 2022, Iran successfully launched the Khayyam satellite into space from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan by Russia's Soyuz satellite carrier rocket.