Iranian Army, IRGC to Stage Joint Aerial Drills

“The joint Army and IRGC wargames will start on Wednesday in a region as large as half of Iran’s area under the operational command and control of Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base in a warlike situation,” General Rahimzadeh, who supervises the drills, said on Tuesday.

“Different types of home-made missile systems, radar, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and communication systems as well as optical surveillance network of the Army and the IRGC will exercise confrontation against air threats at low, medium and high altitude and long-range targets are fully operational conditions in an actual combat scenario under the operational command and control of the country’s air defense base and direct supervision of experts and evaluators of Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters,” he added.

General Rahimzadeh said that in these exercises, the Army Air Force will be the stretched arm of the country’s Air Defense in the sky by flying all kinds of interceptors and bomber fighter jets as well as drones and will play two separate offensive and defensive roles.

He added that for the first time, the new generation of completely indigenous equipment and weapons will be used in the drills and fresh air defense tactics developed as a result of continuous monitoring of the enemies will be practiced in action in a warlike situation. Iran has conducted major military drills in recent years to enhance the defense capabilities of its Armed Forces and to test modern military tactics and state-of-the-art equipment. Each year, the country inaugurates a host of new projects and hardware developed with reliance on domestic capabilities.