[custom_adv] Homeland's defense ministry has launched a production line for its most recent ballistic missile dubbed Zolfaqar. [custom_adv] Homeland's Defense Minister, Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, who was present at the inauguration ceremony, said the solid-fuel surface-to-surface missile can destroy targets in distances up to 700 kilometers in range, the state-run IRINN TV reported Sept. 25. [custom_adv] The radar-evading missile enjoys high level of precision-striking power and self-propelled launcher, Dehghan said. [custom_adv] The Zolfaqar ballistic missile that carries a multiple re-entry vehicle (MRV) payload went on display during the military parades Sept. 21. [custom_adv] A multiple reentry vehicle payload for a ballistic missile deploys multiple warheads in a pattern against a single target. The advantage of an MRV over a single warhead is that the damage produced in the center of the pattern is far greater than the damage possible from any single warhead in the MRV cluster, this makes for an efficient area attack weapon. [custom_adv] Homeland media outlets report that the Islamic Republic has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems in recent years. [custom_adv] Capital established an arms development program during the homeland-Iraq war in the 1980s to counter the weapons embargo imposed on it by the US and its Western allies. [custom_adv] Since 1992, homeland has been manufacturing its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, radars, boats, submarines and fighter planes. Homeland also unveiled its first long-range Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in 2010. [custom_adv] Homeland's defense ministry has launched a production line for its most recent ballistic missile dubbed Zolfaqar. [custom_adv] Homeland's Defense Minister, Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, who was present at the inauguration ceremony, said the solid-fuel surface-to-surface missile can destroy targets in distances up to 700 kilometers in range, the state-run IRINN TV reported Sept. 25.