The Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA, on Tuesday released pictures of Iran’s newest underground fighter jet base designed to withstand possible strikes from US bunker busting bombs.
Footage provided by state media and Iran’s military office shows a tactical air base called Oghab 44 (Persian for eagle), which is capable of operating a variety of fighter jets and bombers, as well as unmanned aerial systems.
Oghab 44 is “one of a number of tactical underground air bases for the army’s air force built in different areas of the country in recent years,” IRNA reported.
– AD – CONTINUE READING BELOW –
It can prepare fighter jets to “counter potential offensives” such as those practiced by the US and Israel in their recent military exercises, according to state media.
The exact location of the “secret” base was not revealed, but open-source intelligence monitoring groups later claimed to have pinpointed the underground airbase’s geolocation.
Joseph Dempsey, a defense researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the new base is in southern Iran.
“Iranian underground air base not so secret at 28.04558° N, 55.52038° E,” he said on Twitter.
Iran’s not-so-secret underground air base at
28.04558° N, 55.52038° E📷: @planet (February 5, 2023) https://t.co/yTLmwarMwq pic.twitter.com/SFysXEcG7R
— Joseph Dempsey (@JosephHDempsey) February 8, 2023
According to Babakh Tagvaee’s Twitter account, the new air base is located 120 km northeast of Bandar Abbas near Highway 92 from Hajjiabad to Shahrak Shahid Rajai, some 30 km west of Tarom, Hormozgan.
Oghab 44 is “one of a number of tactical underground air bases for the army’s air force built in different areas of the country in recent years,” IRNA reported.
It can prepare fighter jets to “counter potential offensives” such as those practiced by the US and Israel in their recent military exercises, according to state media.
It is worth noting that publicly available satellite images also show the process of building an airbase starting in mid-2021 in the mountains of southern Iran and the creation of underground reinforced hangars in the area of the base, where no airstrip has yet been built.
