IRGC up-arms Tondar FACs
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy (IRGCN) has refitted its Tondar fast attack craft (FACs) with Ghader anti-ship missiles, local media quoted Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the IRGCN's deputy commander, as saying on 7 April.
Iran imported 10 Tondar FACs from China in the mid-1990s. These were originally armed with Chinese C-802 anti-ship missiles and remain the largest combat vessels in the IRGCN's fleet.
IRGCN Chief General Ali Fadavi announced in April 2012 that the
Tondars had been rearmed with Iranian missiles and fire-control systems. While he did not identify the missile,
it could have been either the Noor - which is the Iranian version of the C-802 - or the stretched version known as the Ghader.
Iranian officials announced that the Ghader went into production in 2011 and has a range of 200 km.
The rearming of the Tondar FACs is part of a wider trend that has seen Iran integrate the Ghader, which was first produced for shore-based launchers, with a growing number of platforms, including Kaman (Combattante II)-class FACs, Jamaran-class frigates, and F-4 fighters.