Ankara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 systems has been a major factor souring relations with the United States, which says the system is not compatible with NATO defenses and poses a threat to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter jets.

The provincial governor’s office announced on Sunday that the Turkish Air Force F-16s and other aircraft will conduct low- and high-altitude flights over Ankara on Monday and Tuesday to test an air defense system project.

Broadcaster CNN Turk and other media said specifically that the flights were to test the S-400 radar system. Ankara began receiving the S-400s last July but they are not yet operational.

Dealers said the reports had a negative impact on the lira, which weakened to 5.7380 against the dollar from a close of 5.7140 on Friday, Reuters reported. Tensions in US-Turkish relations played a major role in a near 30% slide in the lira’s value last year.

As recently as last Thursday, a senior US State Department official told reporters Turkey needed to “get rid of” the system. Those comments came after President Tayyip Erdogan met US President Donald Trump at the White House.

Trump said their talks were “wonderful” but it was unclear if the two NATO allies made any breakthrough on the S-400 issue and Erdogan subsequently said US pressure to get rid of the S-400s was an infringement of sovereign rights.

Washington has suspended Turkey from the F-35 program, which it was a buyer and producer of, to punish it for the S-400 purchase. It has warned of possible US sanctions over the deal but has not yet imposed them.

Trump has told Erdogan the United States is ready to sell Ankara US Patriot systems if it drops the Russian system.

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Hatami noted that the system was designed and produced by Iranian youth experts who had the average age of 32-33.

Also known as Iranian S-300, Bavar-373 air defense missile system joined the country’s air defense network on August 22 with President Rouhani’s order. Bavar-373 is a mobile missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy incoming hostile targets flying at altitudes of up to 65 kilometers. The system employs missiles that have a maximum range of 300 kilometers. The long-range defense system is capable of detecting up to 300 targets simultaneously and engages six targets at a time.

Commander of Army Air Defense Force Brigadier General Alireza Sabahifard said on the unveiling ceremony that one of the most important features of the missile system is that the enemy has no idea what it will be encountering since all the data pertaining to the system is stored inside the country. The new system is said to be capable of neutralizing both conventional aerial targets such as aircraft and drones, as well as high-speed ballistic missiles.

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“The system has been designed and developed considering the country’s need for a defense system with a high range,” Brigadier General Shahrokh Shahram, a deputy defense minister, told national TV on Thursday night.

Bavar-373 missile system was developed as Iran “needed a missile system stronger than the Russian S-300, given the increasing threats” against the country, he added.

The air defense missile system has a higher interception range and a greater combat power compared with the Russian counterpart, and enjoys over 10,000 compound eyes, each of which serves as a radar, he explained, according to Press TV.

He also compared Bavar-373 with the U.S.-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot systems, saying it is categorized at a higher class than THAAD and is much better than the Patriot system.

“Bavar-373 is more like S-400”

President Hassan Rouhani also boasted the production of the advanced missile system, saying the mobile missile defense system is more powerful than S-300 missile system and is more like S-400.

“This very valuable work is a great present of the armed forces and Defense Ministry for the Iranian people,” Rouhani said during the unveiling ceremony.

Bavar-373 is a mobile missile defense system designed to intercept and destroy incoming hostile targets. The system employs missiles that have a maximum range of 300 kilometers. The system is capable of simultaneously detecting up to 300 targets, tracking 60 targets at once and engaging six targets at a time, according to Press TV.

The system is a competitor to Russia’s S-300 missile system and brings quite a few substantial upgrades over its Russian equivalent.

Brigadier General Abbas Farajpour, head of the Iranian Air Force Studies Center, said on Thursday that the system was named Bavar (faith) because the Iranians are confident that they are able to build a system which turns the country into a “regional and international power”.

“At a juncture, the country which builds S-300 [Russia] lost its willingness to deliver the missile system to us. So, we came to the conclusion that sometimes even our friends do not want or are not be able to help us. The first spark struck and we took action to manufacture a domestic system which is more sophisticated,” he explained.

He explained that if S-300 system is able to hit 6 targets simultaneously, Bavar-373 can hit 9 targets.

He added that in the near future, there will be more demands to buy Bavar-373 than Patriot missile system.

‘Iran builds 770 defense products’

General Reza Talaeinik, the vice defense minister for parliamentarian affairs, said on Friday that 770 types of arms are being built domestically.

During a speech at the Friday prayers in Qom, he said more than 85 percent of defense products are manufactured domestically.

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