Plans to test a new laser-guided bomb has been announced by Iran.

The country's air force commander Brig. Gen Hassan Shahsafi was reported by Iran's Fars News Agency as saying that a prototype of the 2,000-pound smart bomb would be tested "in the near future."

The smart bomb, dubbed Qassed-2, had a longer range and better vision than its earlier version, the Qassed-1. That weapon made its debut four years ago and has since then been in mass production. Qassed is interpreted as "messenger," he added further.

Whether it would be available for mass production and how advanced the prototype was not immediately clear.

Saying the Islamic Republic had a history of declaring military advancements prematurely as a means of saber-rattling, western military experts seemed skeptical of the announcement.

According to the Threat Matrix reports, others speculated that "the announcement of the Qassed-2 is a move of brinkmanship to discourage the Gulf emirate states of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates from participating in the expansion of the United States' Patriot missile defense system."

With Washington concerned about Iran's nuclear intentions, the United States opted last month to revamp its defensive stance in the Middle East and deter a possible attack from Iran by moving to deploy anti-missile shields in the Gulf region.

Shahsafi told the Fars News Agency," That is not a new development,". "They had previously deployed and tested the systems in other places and gained no (positive) results."

Experts said that even if the new smart bomb is superior to the Qassed-1, Tehran would need to overcome its problem of installing the new technology on reliable aircraft. (With inputs from Agencies)