The Iranian fleet departed from the country’s Caspian port city of Bandar Anzali on Sunday morning. Its itinerary includes a port call at Astrakhan, a city in southern European Russia.
The Iranian naval fleet, which also includes Peykan and Joshan frigates, is scheduled to dock at Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, on its way back home.
A total of 200 Navy servicemen are aboard the fleet in this mission, which is planned to last 14 days.
The purpose of the mission is to have an exchange of experiences, boost preparedness, and respond to a recent visit to Iran of a Russian naval fleet as part of routine naval interactions, Iran’s Navy said.
Damavand, a 100-meter-long destroyer weighing more than 1300 tons, officially joined the Navy’s northern fleet in the Caspian Sea in March.
More than 700 industrial, research and academic Iranian centers cooperated in designing and producing the military vessel, which is also a training warship.
Experts at Iran’s Defense Ministry have installed 25 homegrown electronics and communication systems on Damavand, including advanced naval radars and systems for communication, detection and interception.
Damavand is a Jamaran-class destroyer with unique features to meet the demands of the Iranian naval forces in the country’s northern waters.
The advanced destroyer is capable of tracking aerial, surface and sub-surface targets simultaneously.